an up close look at chuck close. c h u c k c l o s e

An up close look at Chuck Close

C H U C K C L O S E

Photo Realism Major players: Chuck Close | Richard Estes | Janet Fish

They believed that photographic images have become more real to many people than actual objects

They used paints and brushes, but saw the world through the lens of a camera.

Many of their works were actually mistaken for photographs.

Often the artist is detached from the subject. Their works tended not to have an emotional quality at all.

Nothing is personal about the subject matter, and there is rarely a single focal point.

P H O T O - R E A L I S M

Chuck ClosePhoto-Realism

• Famous American Painter. Recently started working with Photography.

• Born in Monroe, Washington on July 5, 1940.

• Works on a large scale producing paintings of faces

• Close would often complete multiple images of the same person, each time using a different medium (art material)


• Growing up he had a rough childhood. As a teenager he suffered from a muscular weakness and was not good at sports. Learning disabilities made school difficult, but through these trials he discovered that he could draw better than anyone else.

• After graduating from high school Close went on to University of Washington, and eventually graduated with the highest grade point average in the school.

• VERY INTERESTING FACT >>>> HE WORKS FROM USING GRIDS!!


• Close’s works often are the height of an average person and take up to two years to create… and most interestingly Chuck Close has been confined to a wheelchair for the past 20 years.

• In 1988 Close suffered from the sudden collapse of a spinal artery, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. Since then he has regained some use of his arms, but has never been able to regain control of his hands.


• Chuck Close was influenced by Pop Art. With his enormous, detailed portraits Chuck Close points out society’s dependency on second-hand visual experiences.

• None of his “portraits” are traditional. They tell us nothing about the subject’s lives, feelings, character, profession, or social status.

• His works are merely paintings of photos of faces.

• The overwhelming detail forces us to think not about the subject, but about the image itself- how and why it was made.


• The work of Chuck Close has progressed throughout the years. Originally his artwork was very realistic. Later his work began to loosen up. His most recent images are built from specks of color that can be “read” as faces only from a distance.


Leslie. 1973

He magnified every blemish and imperfection.

His early work was created using an airbrush, as to mimic the mechanical quality of a photograph.

The process of creating the painting was equally important to Chuck Close as the finished image.

Big Self Portrait 1967-68Acrylic on canvas107.5x83.5”

Phil 1969Acrylic on canvas108x84”

Phil (detail)

Francesco I. 1987-88Oil on Canvas100x84”

Cindy 1988

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POST PARALYSIS

He continues to paint on the same scale that he had always painted on. Now he has attendants that help him with the preliminary work, but he still does the actual painting.

Sometimes he sits on a forklift, and other times he uses a special mechanical easel that raises, lowers, and rotates his canvases for him.


Keith

THE PROCESS:

Uses a grid to enlarge the photos onto the canvas.

Frontal head posed in almost a passport-photo view

Unsmiling lips and dead-pan eyes.

Used several different media to create his portraits:

Airbrush, Fingerprints, Crayon, Acrylic Paint, Oil Paint, Pencil, Pen, Paper Collage,

Self portraits

Chuck Close

an up close look at chuck close. c h u c k c l o s e

Documents

chuck close slide

work of chuck close

close look

high school close

o s e slide

c h u c

photographic images

school difficult