Arguably the greatest painter alive, Chuck Close presents amazing new work at Pace Gallery in New York. His ability to calculate color is super-human and his perseverance in the face of dyslexia, prosopagnosia (face-blindness), and partial quadriplegia (!!!) is nothing short of incredible. Google him to your heart’s content…. though I would suggest starting with The Colbert Report)
“Phil”, 2011-2012, oil on canvas, 108-1/2″x 84″ © Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Gallery
Photo by Kerry Ryan McFate / Courtesy Pace Gallery, Private Collection
“Phil” (detail)
In person, these aren’t just images, they are experiences. When you stand nose to nose with one of the giant portraits of Phillip Glass, Kara Walker, Cindy Sherman, Lucas Samaras and more, the surfaces flatten, the colors explode, and the whole thing turns delightfully abstract.
“Kara”, 2012, archival watercolor pigment print, 55-1/2″ x 44″
Made in collaboration with Donald Farnsworth, Magnolia Editions and David Adamson, Adamson Editions © Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Gallery Photo by: Magnolia Editions, courtesy Pace Gallery
“Kara” (detail)
His newest process: computer-aided watercolor. For these, Close selected and arranged swatches of watercolor squares from over 14,000 he hand painted separately. The finished works are printed on watercolor paper WITH watercolor paint in several layers of ONLY cyan, magenta & yellow. Inches from these, you can see the halo of colors that builds up each square.
“Cindy”, 2012, archival watercolor pigment print, 75 x 60″
Made in collaboration with Donald Farnsworth, Magnolia Editions and David Adamson, Adamson Editions
© Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo by Magnolia Editions, courtesy Pace Gallery
“Cindy” (detail)
New black & white Jaquard Tapestries, based off daguerreotype photographs taken by Close, are breathtaking in person. Not only do they absorb the light in such a way that the images appear more real and three-dimensional than any photograph (more so than on your computer screen right now), but standing only inches away, the surfaces flatten into a network of gridded thread.
“Lucas”, 2011, jacquard tapestry, 87″ x 74″
© Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Gallery, Photo by Donald Farnsworth, courtesy Pace Gallery
“Lucas” (detail)
What: Paintings, prints & tapestries by Chuck Close
When: October 19, 2012 – December 22, 2012 (gallery closed over Thanksgiving weekend)
Where: Pace Gallery, 534 w 25th St, New York, NY
All images © 2012 Pace Gallery, All Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise specified, all artworks © the artist; all images © Pace Gallery.
MicoCreatives on 11.22.2012 at 01:20 AM
Love his artwork, even after all he’s battled he was still able to express his passion visually :)
Laura on 11.22.2012 at 06:15 AM
So…. the black and white images at the bottom, although based on photographs, aren’t actually photographs here??
David Behringer (post author) on 11.22.2012 at 12:12 PM
Those are fabric, woven on a computer controlled loom with black, white, and grey thread. The pixelation you see in the detail shot above (especially under the eye or in the hair on the right) is not poor image quality, it’s actually the threads. Here’s a great blog post with images of them being made by Magnolia Editions who partnered with Close on this one: http://blog.magnoliaeditions.com/2010/12/new-chuck-close-tapestries-being-woven.html
Jack on 11.22.2012 at 23:34 PM
The portraits above evoke something I love. Creative style. I’m not a fan of the photorealistic stuff in general I mean, so when I see these cool abstract pieces with portraits mixed in it makes me happy. I love the stepping outside of the box.