Chuck Close

Chuck Close (1940–2021) was an American painter and photographer known for monumental portraits built from photographs and, especially later, grids of abstract marks.

Photorealism: A style of painting or sculpture that closely imitates the appearance of photographs. Close became known for portraits whose scale and detail challenged distinctions between painting and photography.
Photographic portrait: An image that presents a person through a photograph, usually emphasizing the face or upper body. Close used photographs as the source images for many of his painted portraits.
Yale School of Art: The graduate art school at Yale University, known for educating generations of American artists. Close earned an MFA at Yale in 1964 before developing his mature portrait practice.
Philip Glass: An American composer associated with minimalist music and repetitive musical structures. Glass and Close were longtime friends, and Close made a portrait of the composer.
Spinal artery infarction: A stroke caused by interrupted blood supply to the spinal cord, which can produce severe paralysis. A 1988 spinal artery infarction left Close paralyzed, transforming how he made art.
Grid (graphic design): A framework of intersecting lines used to organize visual elements into rows and columns. Close used grids to enlarge photographs and organize marks across monumental canvases.
Projection (art): The transfer of an image onto a surface by casting or projecting light through it. Projection helped Close enlarge photographic images onto canvas for painting.
Abstract expressionism: A postwar art movement emphasizing gestural abstraction, spontaneity, and the artist’s physical act of painting. Close rejected its expressive spontaneity in favor of measured, photographic procedures.
Alex Katz: An American painter known for coolly simplified portraits and sharply reduced forms. Katz’s concise, flattened portraits offer a striking alternative to Close’s monumental detail.
Adaptive technology: Tools and systems designed to help people with disabilities perform tasks or participate in daily life. Custom supports and tools enabled Close to continue painting after paralysis.

Linked from 1 page