Chuck Close Essay

990 Words4 Pages
Chuck Close is an American contemporary artist that rose beyond some of his own setbacks and became phenomenal and world renowned. He was born in July of 1940 in Monroe, Washington. He was diagnosed with a severe case of dyslexia and a physical condition that hindered him from participating in sports. This caused him to do poorly in school, academically and socially. He faced even more sorrow when all within the same year his father died, and he and his mother fell ill. Only at 11 years old, Close still would turn to art as a way to work through his pain and emotions. What Close excelled at was art, and with this new finding, Close went on to receive an MFA from Yale. What set Close apart from other artists was the kind of art he created, a…show more content…
Close’s style as art is called as photorealism meaning: “detailed and unidealized representation in art, especially of banal, mundane, or sordid aspects of life.” or “detailed visual representation, like that obtained in a photograph, in a non photographic medium such as animation or computer graphics”. What Close did in his art he coined as “knitting”. Perhaps it is because he begins with large Polaroids of a model that he enlarges and puts it on an even grander scale canvas. His particular art gained the most recognition and popularity in the late 1960s. Close is quoted on saying, “A photograph doesn't gain weight or lose weight, or change from being happy to being sad. It's frozen. You can use it, then recycle it” (Close). ! Photos seemed to always be a forever constant for Close and this idea helped him after yet another traumatic event struck his life. In 1988 in New York City Chuck Close was booked to speak at a ceremony. He did feel pain and discomfort in his chest, but ignored it. He was able to speak and bring himself to a care center afterwards where that day took a terrible turn for the worse. He had a serious seizure that caused him to be paralyzed from the neck down. Close had dealt with many hardships before in his life and this one, like the rest, he endured and overcame. He did not stop painting and making art all together, but just adapted to his current

More about Chuck Close Essay

Open Document