Chuck Close: Life and Work 1988-1995 - Hardcover

Guare, John; Close, Chuck

4.08

13 ratings by Goodreads

9780500092538: Chuck Close: Life and Work 1988-1995

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500092532 ISBN 13: 9780500092538

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 1999

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In December 1988, at a high point of his career, a collapsed spinal artery left the painter Chuck Close paralyzed from the shoulders down. He was famous by then for his monumental portraits that deconstructed the conventional notions of identity and personality. Now Close was forced to confront his own identity: could a paralyzed man make monumental art? Three years later, a show of new Close paintings appeared; to the astonishment of the art world, they were as large and powerful as ever. Not only had he found a way to paint his physically demanding portraits again; they had also been transformed. A more impressionistic and dynamic vision now throbbed from his canvases with new emotional intensity.
In this book, Close has collaborated with his friend, playwright John Guare, to produce a narrative account that tells the story of what Close calls "the event": the day of the trauma itself, the months of slowly recovering the minimal movement that allows him to still paint, and the transformation of his art as a result. The book also brings together all of his new paintings from the last seven years, including images of Roy Lichtenstein, Eric Fischl, April Gornik, and other major contemporary artists. Taking the reader even further into his vision, Close brings Guare behind the canvas and into the Polaroid studio to photograph him as a potential subject for a new portrait. With a unique combination of documentary photographs and commentary, Close shows how he conceives and begins the process of making a portrait, and how the subject plays a role in shaping the final image.

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Review:

Close moves beyond the typical artist monograph by engaging the painter in a discussion about his profound personal "catastrophe." In 1988 painter Chuck Close had achieved a rare success: he was just 50 years old and his monumental portraits had already been the subject of a major museum retrospective, 60 solo shows, and hundreds of other group shows. His portrait subjects were often other painters such as Francesco Clemente and Lucas Samaras, and his work was shown in the prestigious Pace Gallery in New York City. Then catastrophe struck: Close suffered a collapsed spinal artery, which ultimately left him paralyzed and permanently wheelchair-bound. For weeks, many in the art world thought he might be dead. Certainly, the obituary of his painting career was quickly written. But a scant two years later, the indomitable Close reemerged, his canvasses as large as ever, the heretofore objective distance between him and his subjects foreshortened to make room for a new depth of emotion in the work.

Playwright John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation) interviews Close about the effect the catastrophe, as he calls it, has had on his life and work. Interspersed throughout are beautifully reproduced, full-page images of Close's portraits. Many of these images are placed alongside the photographs from which the painter works and the maquettes that are the next step of the process. Included, too, are close-ups of the grids of color that make up the paintings. Seen at this level of detail, they create their own impressionist imagery. The conversation between playwright and painter culminates in the writer's sitting for the artist in front of his massive Polaroid camera--the first stage in Close's portrait process. Close offers readers the opportunity to examine the painter's work and read about his emotional and artistic shifts and the meaning behind them, making this book a worthy addition to any art lover's library. --Jordana Moskowitz

From Publishers Weekly:

In 1988, an occluded spinal artery left painter Chuck Close partially paralyzed, yet since his injury, this artist famed for his monumental photorealist portraits has produced some of his most vigorous and intense work. This informal scrapbook, which reproduces all of his new paintings from the last seven years, includes an interview conducted by his friend, playwright John Guare, plus Guare's commentary on Close's new directions. Many of the artist's larger-than-life-size faces are now patterned into gridlike human "landscapes" composed of myriad cells, each cell filled with a swirling miniature blob of color. This slightly eerie technique adds a psychological dimension to Close's deconstructions of the way our brains rearrange visual sensations into coherent images. Featured here are his portraits of many contemporary artists, including April Gornick, Eric Fischl, Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, Dorothea Rockburne and Francesco Clemente. First serial to Interview magazine.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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