An up close look at Chuck Close

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 Close
Photo-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)

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism 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!!

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism Closes 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
Photo-Realism

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism Chuck Close was influenced by Pop Art. With his enormous, detailed portraits Chuck Close points out societys dependency on second-hand visual experiences. None of his portraits are traditional. They tell us nothing about the subjects 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.

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism 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.

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism 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.

Leslie. 1973

Big Self Portrait 1967-68 Acrylic on canvas 107.5x83.5

Phil 1969 Acrylic on canvas 108x84

Phil (detail)

Phil (detail)

Phil 1977 Watercolor on paper 58x40

Self Portrait. 1986 Oil on Canvas 54.5x42.25

Francesco I. 1987-88 Oil on Canvas 100x84

Alex II. 1989 Oil on canvas 36x30

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism I paint heads because heads matter to everybody. If you paint a face big enough, its hard to ignore. My real subjects are not people, I paint portraits of photographs

If you make something new and personal, it may not look like art at all.

Self Portrait. 1991

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism 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.

Chuck Close
Photo-Realism THE PROCESS:

Uses a grid to enlarge the photos onto the canvas.

Frontal head posed in almost a passportphoto 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,

Keith