James Mielnicki Senior Portfolio 2010: Artist (2/21): Chuck Close

I first saw Close’s work at the VMFA during his exhibition, which ran from July 10 – November 14, 2010. His work hits you in the face from the moment you see it, large scale paintings that can stretch across entire walls. His work breaks free of traditional painting techniques and standards becoming something outside what one would normally consider a painting. Up close, the viewer would be hard pressed to see something other than a collection of nonrepresentational boxes. But at a distance, each box comes together to make a stunning, surprisingly detailed portrait. When looking at Close’s pieces, I am inspired to move outside the bounds of what I consider “traditional photography” into something I consider “photo based art” or "photo art."

“Chuck Close, born July 5, 1940, Monroe, Washington, U.S., American artist noted for his highly inventive techniques used to paint the human face. He is best known for his large-scale, Photo-Realist portraits.
Close began taking art lessons as a child and at age 14 saw an exhibition of Jackson Pollak’s abstract paintings, which helped inspire him to become a painter. He studied at the University of Washington School of Art (B.A., 1962) and at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture (B.F.A., 1963; M.F.A., 1964), and in 1964 he won a Fulbright scholarship to study in Vienna. While teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1965–67), he gradually rejected the elements of Abstract Expressionism that had initially characterized his work.”

"Chuck Close Biography - Biography.com."Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Feb 2011. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Chuck-Close-9251491>.

“…I think the problem with the arts in America is how unimportant it seems to be in our educational system.” Chuck Close

Brown, Jeffrey. "Conversation: Chuck Close, Christopher Finch | Art Beat | PBS News Hour | PBS." PBS.org. MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 02 Jul 2010. Web. 21 Feb 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/07/conversation-chuck-close-christopher-finch.html>.

“There are no commissioned portraits. These are images that really matter, and I want to commit them to memory and the only way I can really do that is to flatten them out, scan them, make these drawings and paintings and prints. And then they enter my memory bank in a different sort of way.” Chuck Close

Brown, Jeffrey. "Conversation: Chuck Close, Christopher Finch | Art Beat | PBS News Hour | PBS." PBS.org. MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, 02 Jul 2010. Web. 21 Feb 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/07/conversation-chuck-close-christopher-finch.html>