Chuck Close portriats

Who is Chuck Close

Thomas "Chuck" Close (born July 5, 1940) is an American painter/artist and photographer who achieved fame as a photo realist, through his massive-scale portraits. A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person. Chuck often paints abstract portraits, that are shown in the world's finest galleries. He uses a refined process where he breaks the images down to a series of square areas and builds the portraits incrementally, square by square. In the hands of many other artists, tile portraits often appear hackneyed, but Close has revolutionized the method. His artwork extends beyond painting he an extensive portfolio that includes printmaking, photography, and, most recently, tapestries based on Polaroids.

In 1988, Close again experienced the trauma of a severe health issue when he suffered the sudden rupture of a spinal artery. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Close was left almost entirely paralyzed. Eventually, after rounds of physical therapy, Close, who became permanently confined to a wheelchair, regained the partial use of his limbs.Despite the physical limitations, Close pressed forward with his work. With a brush taped to his wrist, Close continued to paint, but in a style that was more abstract and less precise as seen in the photo to the right.. It is these more abstract "Grid like, pointillism like" pieces that we draw our inspiration for our project.