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.

Chuck Close: Life and Work 1988-1995

Arts & Photography

Guare, John

CLOSE, Chuck

History & Criticism

Thames&Hudson

Chuck Close

This volume, the most comprehensive assessment of Chuck Close's work yet published, accompanied a mid-career retrospective exhibition that opened at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, on February 25, 1998. A leading figure in the New York art world since the early 1970s, Close has recently concentrated on portraits of his artist friends and colleagues, characterized by colorful patterning and vivid brushwork. Subjects include Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Alex Katz, Kiki Smith, Lucas Samaras, and Lorna Simpson. Here, more than 90 paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs are reproduced, along with details and comparative illustrations.

VARNEDOE, Kirk

Deborah Wye

Glenn D. Lowry

STORR, Robert

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Vija Celmins

Vija Celmins' drawings and paintings evoke the infinite, as the artist attentively examines subjects like a night sky filled with distant stars or a rocky expanse of the moon's surface. An interview with Chuck Close reveals Celmins' ongoing interest in drawing and her love of nature as a place of discovery. Dimension: 8 ½ X 10 inches, 62 duotone and 24 color reproductions.

Bartman, William

A.R.T. Pr

Chuck Close's frighteningly intimate, deceptively straightforward portraits have become an indelible part of American art iconography. In The Portraits Speak, Close applies his close-range approach to interviews with artists he has painted over the years, including Kiki Smith, Philip Glass, William Wegman, Cindy Sherman. Each word portrait offers another candid glimpse into the minds of three generations of American artists and the world of contemporary art, giving an insider's view of the creative process. Dimension: 8¾ x 12¾, b&amp;w reproductions.

The Portraits Speak: Chuck Close in Conversation With 27 of His Subjects

Hickey, Dave

Kesten, Joanne

Distributed Art Pub Inc

Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Walker Art Center, and traveling to other venues.

Close portraits: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis : exhibition

Lyons, Lisa, and Friedman, Martin (Essays by)

Walker Art Center

Chuck Close: Editions : a catalog raisonné and exhibition : The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, September 17th-November 26th, 1989

The Institute

Chuck Close: Recent works : October 22-November 27, 1993

Pace Gallery

Chuck Close: Recent paintings

PaceWildenstein

In English and German. Daguerreotypes by Close. 36 pages, illustrated with images throughout, and with interview material in English and German.

Chuck Close: Recent paintings : March 17-April 29, 2000

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