“Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress” is a movie about Close’s journey evolving as an artist overcoming his physical disabilities and how he made a place for himself in the New York’s contemporary art community. Chuck Close displayed his first series of black and white portraits in the year 1967-68 known as a big self-portrait; now one can see the use of colors in his painting which he makes from photographs as big as 9 feet (Chuck Close 2016).
The video gives insight to how Close plans his paintings and how he works on it in his studio. He follows a set process to do his portraits, and it is a must to mention that the process is not easy at all. First, the photograph is divided into small grids and then Close works on each grid for months, giving it the final shape in the video one can see him working on his self-portrait from beginning to end. It is inspiring to see Chuck Close working in his studio with the enthusiasm. One can see the passion towards his style of making portraits in his eyes and the way he speaks about it. He candidly shares his childhood memories related to the illness that he suffered because of which he was almost paralyzed, drawing deep respect that he is worthy of from the viewer. The technique that he uses in transforming photographs into mosaic-like the plane is unique. The video shows Close painting the small grids in various colors and patterns forming O's, X's and rings, making it look like small abstract paintings if we see it closely and huge portraits from a distance. Close mainly chooses portraits of himself, family members and friends for his elaborate paintings (Chuck Close 2015).
The video also gives deep insight into Closes’s art when the viewer hears viewpoints of Closes’s wife, Leslie, artist Alex Katz and music composer Philip Glass. The video has been shot in a very personal style. Anyone who has suffered similar circumstances in their lives will relate to it. Chuck Close continues to enjoy and savor his art and proving to be an inspiration for many generations to come.
Works Cited
"Chuck Close." The art story. 2016. Web. 6 April. 2016.
"Chuck Close." eds.b.ebscohost. 2015. Web. 6 April. 2016.
