Chuck Close
Chuck Close
Charles Thomas "Chuck" Closeis an American painter/artist and photographer who achieved fame as a photorealist, through his massive-scale portraits. Close often paints abstract portraits, that are shown in the world's finest galleries. Although a catastrophic spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him severely paralyzed, he has continued to paint and produce work that remains sought after by museums and collectors. Close lives and works in Bridgehampton, New York and Long Beach, NY and New York City's East Village. His first...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth5 July 1940
CityMonroe, WA
CountryUnited States of America
I always thought problem solving was greatly overrated - and that the most important thing was problem creation.
There are things about signing on to a process over the long term that protect you from the buffeting winds of change.
Having a routine, knowing what to do, gives me a sense of freedom and keeps me from going crazy. It's calming.
I love making art... It's largely how I see myself. I'm an artist; therefore I have to make art.
Inspiration is for amateurs. professionals work everyday. Personally the best inspiration is a deadline.
Painting is a lie. It's the most magic of all media, the most transcendent. It makes space where there is no space.
I knew from the age of five what I wanted to do. The one thing I could do was draw. I couldn't draw that much better than some of the other kids, but I cared more and I wanted it badly.
I can't always reach the image in my mind... almost never, in fact... so that the abstract image I create is not quite there, but it gets to the point where I can leave it.
The first thing I do is take Polaroids of the sitter - 10 or 12 color Polaroids and eight or 10 black-and whites.
It's like a magic well. You think you know everything about [a] photograph, you think you've gotten everything out of it, and all of a sudden I see things in it I'd never seen before.
Far more interesting than problem solving is problem creation.
Of all the artists who emerged in the '80s, I think perhaps Cindy Sherman is the most important.
In the 7th grade, I made a 20-foot long mural of the Lewis and Clark Trail while we were studying that in history because I knew I wasn't going to be able to spit back the names and the dates and all that stuff on a test.
Most people are good at too many things. And when you say someone is focused, more often than not what you actually mean is they're very narrow.