CHUCK CLOSE (Kunst)

*****
CHUCK CLOSE is an American artist who achieved monumental fame as a photorealist. Though a catastrophic spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him severely paralyzed, he has continued to produce work which remains sought after by museums and collectors.

His genius was recognized early on in his career. In 1969 his work was included in the Whitney Biennial followed by his first one man show in 1970. Shortly thereafter his work was first exhibited at the New York MOMA in early 1973. At this time, he often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs.

THE EVENT that changed his life occurred on Dec. 7, 1988. Following an abbreviated speech giving an art award Close felt a strange pain in his chest and then ran to the hospital. Within a few hours, he was paralyzed from the neck down. At first the doctors were confused but eventually they diagnosed a rare spinal artery collapse. Close calls that day, "The Event" and now relies on a wheelchair, presumably for the rest of his life. At the time, doctors and art experts both agreed, his career was over.

Close, however, had other ideas and he continued to paint with a brush strapped onto his fingers, creating large portraits in low-resolution grid squares. Viewed from afar, these squares appear as a single, unified image which attempt photo-reality, albeit in pixilated form. Typically, each square within the grid is filled with roughly executed regions of color (usually consisting of painted rings on a contrasting background) which give the cell a perceived 'average' hue which makes sense from a distance. Later work has branched into non-rectangular grids - regions of similar colors, color grid work, and larger grids to make the cell by cell nature of his work obvious even in small reproductions. Although the paralysis restricted his ability to paint as meticulously as before, Close has proved able to create his desired effects even with the most difficult situation and materials to control.

Chuck Close
Chuck Close Biography

1940
Born in Monroe, WA on July 5

1963
B.F.A. Yale University School of Art and Architecture, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
1964
M.F.A. Yale University School of Art and Architecture, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
1965
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1965
Fullbright Grant, Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Vienna
1966
Resident Artist, The American Academy in Rome, Italy
2000
Awarded National Medal of Arts, Washington, D.C. USA

Selected Exhibitions
2007
Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen
2006
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
2005
Royal Academy of Arts, London
2004
Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration : The Met, New York, NY, USA
2004
Neue Editionen : Edition Schellmann, Munich, Germany
2003
Hyperrealismes USA, 1965-1975 : Strasbourg CMAM, Strasbourg
2002
Recent Paintings : Pace Wildenstein, New York, NY, USA
2001
Points of Departure : San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
2001
About Faces, C&M Arts, New York, NY
2000
The American Century: Art & Culture 1900-2000, Whitney Museum, New York, NY
2000
Chuck Close: Daguerreotypes : Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich, Germany
1999
Portraits, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY
1998
Chuck Close, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1998
The Artist's Eye: Will Barnet Selects from the Collection, National Academy Museum, New York, NY
1997
Project Painting, Basilico fine Arts, New York, NY
1997
Project Painting, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Systematic, Karen McCready Fine Art, New York, NY
1997
In-Form, Bravin Post Lee Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Photorealism's Greatest Hits, Louis K. Meiel Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Chuck Close: Large-Scale Photographs, PaceWildensteinMacGill, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, CA
1980
Printed Art: A View of Two Decades, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1979
Copie Conforme?, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1971
Recent Work, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA

Rotating Exhibition, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY

Literature
2003
"The Morning After," Reed, David, ARTFORUM, March, p.210
2002
"Road Fool," Dunham, Carroll, ARTFORUM, October, p. 136
2001
"Wall Power." Saltz, Jerry, The Village Voice, Jaunuary 30, p. 69
2000
"Watching the Skies," Wei, Lilly, Art in America, April, pp. 128-133
1996
"Pleasure, Pain & Protocol," Gardner, Paul. ARTnews, March

http://www.chuckclose.com