Baby Got Books

Close Reading

I picked up Close Reading: Chuck Close and the Artist Portrait, by Martin Friedman, more or less with the expectation that I would flip through it, ogle at the pictures, and then use it as a conversation piece/coffee table book. I have been fascinated by Chuck Close’s style as an artist for years, although I didn’t know much about him other than a vague recollection that he had been partially paralyzed at some point, and I used the availability of this book as a way to see more of his work.

Well, the book certainly contains pictures of much of his work, but also features much more. What I began with the intention of skimming through this as a flip book became a very engaging read about Close’s history as an artist, his methods, his relationships, and what drives him as an artist. Believe it or not, the text was just as engaging as the pictures (and that’s saying a lot).

For those of you unfamiliar with Chuck Close, he’s an artist who’s made his name primarily through huge portraits, many of them self-portraits, and virtually always based on photographic images. He has used a number of techniques historically, from hyper-realism (his “Big Self-Portrait”, from 1967-68, looks like a nine-foot high photograph) to more minimalist works that look like collages or mosaics, in which no individual element makes any sense, but which in their entirety form an incredibly recognizable image.

The book talks about some of Close’s struggles during his development (including dyslexia) and the methods he used to overcome them, as well as the frightening episode in 1988 when he suffered an occluded spinal artery that left him partially paralyzed, but did not stop him from continuing with his artistry. It also talks about the painstaking processes he uses to select his models (all people whom he knows) and to transfer imagery from carefully planned and lit photographs onto canvas or paper or whatever other surface he chooses for the portrait. The methods used and the time it takes to create his art is mind-boggling.

In short, pick this one up for the pictures, but don’t disregard the story it tells.