Chuck Close

I think the two most amazing words in the world of art today are Chuck, and Close. His inventive way of doing portraits has shocked and awed this contemporary world today.

Self-portrait, 2000

65 x 54½ inches

Chuck Close's subjects are his family, his friends, himself, and fellow artists whose faces are described through his distinct and meticulous marks. Working from a gridded photograph, Chuck Close builds his images by applying one careful stroke after another in multi-colors, but he also does this in grey scale. His works, like this one, are generally larger than life. I chose to show the full and detailed shots of this piece because of the immense difference between the two. If you just saw the detail, it would be no more than an abstract, geometrical piece; where the full image creates a face with all the details of chiaroscuro.

Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait , 1967-1968

acrylic on canvas

This is one of his early works, and you can tell because this is a self-portrait and he’s so young ;) I also chose this piece of his because it shows another style that he does that is very well known and appreciated. The exaggeration of this portrait makes it an idealized realistic painting. You can see every hair and every pore. This is such a famous piece of his and one of my all-time favorites; I just had to show it off.

Brad, 2009

104 x 78 in

This is another example of his idealized form, and yes, it is a celebrity which he does do from time to time.