Chuck Close

Most of his works are very large portraits

based on photographs (Photorealism or

Hyperrealism technique).

Chuck Close

• To create his grid work copies of photos, Close puts a grid on the photo and on the canvas and copies cell by cell.

Chuck Close

His first tools for this included an airbrush, rags, razor blade, and an eraser mounted on a power drill.

Chuck Close

Close has often returned to the same photos to paint over and over again with different techniques.

Chuck Close

Close has often returned to the same photos to paint over and over again with different techniques.

Chuck Close

• Later work has branched into non-rectangular grids, topographic map style regions of similar colors, and using larger grids to make the cell by cell nature of his work obvious.

Chuck Close

• Even in small reproductions -- the Big Self Portrait is so finely done that even a full page reproduction in an art book is still indistinguishable from a regular photograph.

Chuck Close

• Even in small reproductions -- the Big Self Portrait is so finely done that even a full page reproduction in an art book is still indistinguishable from a regular photograph.

Chuck Close

• Even in small reproductions -- the Big Self Portrait is so finely done that even a full page reproduction in an art book is still indistinguishable from a regular photograph.

Chuck Close

• In 1988, Close had a spinal artery collapse, on the day he was to give a speech at an art awards ceremony. He felt ill beforehand, gave his speech, then painfully went to a hospital across the street. A few hours later he was a quadriplegic.

Chuck Close

• Close continued to paint with a brush held between his teeth, creating mini-portraits in grid squares created by an assistant. From a distance, these squares appear as a single, unified image. Eventually Close managed to recover some movement in his arm and legs, and now paints with a brush strapped to his hand.

Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Chuck Close