Chuck Close

By Shannon Van Staden, Thomas Mackintosh, Shane Vanvelsen

Tough Start

• Chuck Close was born on July 5, 1940, in Monroe, Washington.

• Suffered from severe dyslexia so did poorly in school.

• Close also suffered from a neuromuscular condition, leaving him unable to play sports.

• Got a kidney infection and was bed ridden for a year.

Found Art

• Chucks parents where artistic and gave a lot of support

• With his struggles at school chuck found solace in art

Influence's

• In 1954 chuck went to a exhibition of Jackson Pollock and saw al his paintings.

• Jacksons style influenced chuck tremendously and made chuck want to become a professional artist.

Mural, 1943 by Jackson pollock

The Rise of Chuck

• Chuck close went to Washington University and graduated in 1962

• At this time chucks work was very abstract

1960By Chuck close

Change

• Chuck goes to Yale of Fine Arts

• During this time in Yale chucks work goes from abstract to high photo realism.

• This becomes Chucks signature style

Mark, 1979. acrylic on canvas, 9' x 7' (29.6 x 23 m)

Big Nude, 1967. oil on canvas, 117 x 253" (9'9" x 21').

knitting

• Chuck developed a process he called “knitting”

• Used exacting grids from huge large frame polaroid pictures of his models

• Then recreated it on canvas in oil.

Perfection

• Chuck painted his friends family and himself

• He worked big and close up with extreme detail.

• Painted every flaw on every patch of skin, mouth, nasal cavity.

• These paintings were so photo realistic it would be hard to tell the difference.

Big Nude, 1967. oil on canvas, 117 x 253" (9'9" x 21').

• At the time this kind of art had never been done before

The inject printer

• Chucks application of colour was new and worked extremely well.

• This application was so revolutionary that it helped the development of the ink jet printer.

Self portrait

• In 1968 Chuck did a famous self portrait

• This is a good example of how he paints every flaw

• Hair is a mess

• Blemishes in the skin

• Facial features are all done as they are nothing is changed.

Phil

• In 1969 Chuck did a portrait of Phillip Glass.

• Phillip glass was a extremely well known composer at the time

• This became one of the most famous and recognizable pieces for Chuck

Fame

• In the 1970’s Chucks work is shown is some of the worlds finest gallery’s

• Chuck is widely considered one of Americas best contemporary artists

Bad luck

• In 1988 close suffered a sudden rupture of the spinal artery.

• Close was left nearly entirely paralyzed

• After lots of physical therapy Close was permanently confined to a wheel chair

• But had partial use of his limbs

Carry On

• After the accident Close continues with his work despite his physical limitations.

• Close now paints with a brush taped to his wrist.

Change in style

• After the accident Close goes back to a abstract style

• Still doing portraits but with less precision

• This does not effect Close’s reputation and standing at all

Self-Portrait, 1997. oil on canvas, 102 x 84" (259.1 x 213.4 cm).

• Close’s position in the art world does not change

• In the year 2000 president Clinton names Close a recipient of the national medal of arts

• In 2007 his life becomes a full length documentary “Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress”