Thursday, August 8, 2013

CHUCK CLOSE

Chuck Close is an American portrait artist who was born in Monroe, Washington in 1940. By the age of four, Close knew he wanted to be an artist. At age eleven, Close's father died and his family lost their home. Art was Close's defense against manic depression. Close attended the University of Washington, Seattle and graduated in 1962 with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1964, Close moved to the East coast and enrolled in Yale University's masters program for figurative art. After graduating, Close achieved fame for his larger than life Hyperrealist portraits. In 1988, Close was rendered quadriplegic because of a spinal artery collapse, but this did not end his career. Close changed his process to accommodate his handicap and has continued to produce portraits that are impressively realistic. Close continues to live and work in New York.

Bob, Chuck Close, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 108 x 84 ”, 1969-70.

Close's pieces have been portraits since his college years in the 1960's because they are what interest him. Close takes photographs of himself and people in his life and works from the photo to generate a larger than life depiction of them. Close then lays out the composition as a grid on a canvas. I have always been against using a grid because it allows for less chance of an awesome error, but I have never considered myself to be a strict realist and I have never worked in a very large format. Close says, “ My work has always been driven by self-imposed limitations.” I need to severely limit myself in order to achieve successful works.


Mark, Chuck Close, Acrylic on Canvas, 108 x 84 ”, 1978-79.

Close is the most prominent portrait painter of the second half of the twentieth century. I eventually want to work large scale the way that close does but not in Hyperrealism. After looking at Close's works, I know how I want to produce my series of paintings for my Honor's Research Grant. Whether or not this will carry over into my series for Senior Seminar, I am unsure. I have never had a concrete painting process because I have only painted for a year now. However, I am currently devising a set of rules I will follow to complete a series of six self-portraits. I will stay in a bare white walled room without sleeping until the series of six paintings are done. I will not begin a new painting until I feel comfortable with the first one being complete. I will clean and restart my palette between each painting. I need strict discipline to shape a dedication to painting and process that I have yet to contrive.

Self-Portrait, Chuck Close, Acrylic on Canvas, 108 x 84 ”, 2002-03. 

No comments:

Post a Comment