We will view the film "Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress" in class. Respond to the following questions in paragraph form by Friday, April 17.
1. Describe Close's work. How has it changed over time? Do you favor his early or late work? Explain.
2. Does photo realism have artistic merit, or are photo realists merely "one-trick ponies"? What would Leo Tolstoy say about Close's work?
3. As you have learned, Chuck Close suffered a collapse of a spinal artery which left him partially paralyzed. Explain the modifications he makes to continue his artwork and what these adjustments reveal about his character.
4. In the Jackson Pollock BBC film, we learned that Pollock's personal and artistic downfall was fueled by his decision to reveal his process in a documentary. Having viewed Chuck Close's process, do you gain more respect and understanding for his work? Or, do you think his images lose their mystique now that you have seen his process?
6 comments:
R.Hain
Visual Imagination
13, April 2009
A “Closer” Look
1. Close’s work is semi unusual, although very interesting. Close’s portraits are usually of himself and are direct copies of a photograph. His later work has a surreal and abstract look to it because of the grid that he uses to recreate the pieces of art work. In his earlier work he used mostly black and white paint to illustrate the impression of being a real photograph. Now his later work looks like “Pixels on a TV screen” (Kefor, Todd). His later work has more color to illustrate the “abstract-ness” appearance of his pictures.
2. Photo realism does have artistic merit, I think but to someone such as Tolstoy maybe not so much. His artistic ability although unusual still requires an immense amount of talent. From the reading of Tolstoy, he would not be impressed with the works of Close. He probably would have considered the earlier works of Close. Although his later works cause a problem because he did not think that abstract work deserved merit or worth of real art.
3. He uses a brace, has the painting on the wall that has tracks so he can turn, drop and raise as he pleases. This shows that his character is strong. Even though he has a physical disability it doesn’t stop him from doing the thing he loves the most… painting.
4. I think that this will not be a downfall such as the way of Pollock and his ways of painting. Because with Pollock it expressed that there was no thought process, such as this could symbolize something. With Close, his art still is hard to reproduce because although it is easier than free-handing it, it is still very difficult.
1. Chuck Close’s work is similar to others yet very different at the same time. His work has changed over time due to his acquired disability, it has changed from black to white and I find that the way they look finished has changed. Both his early and later work is amazing but I favor his later work. Seeing as though it is more of a challenge and the fact that he isn’t just going to give up makes me look at it a little differently. I also love the way he paints with the grid, with so many different colors in each grid space.
2. I think that photo realism differently has artistic merit. In my opinion, art doesn’t have a true definition. Anything that can be created and someone can be proud of or be compelled to look at is art. People nowadays think that simply taking a photo makes them a photographer. Being able to duplicate those images with a paintbrush, paint and canvas is true art. I think Tolstoy would probably be silent for a little while but eventually he would warm up to Chuck’s art. It is similar to what Tolstoy did himself, but a little more abstract.
3. Chuck Close has an accident that left him partially paralyzed, but he does not give up on what he loves to do. Chuck made a brace that he can wear to keep his hand steady; his art is put on a sort of elevator machine so it makes it easier for him to paint. This reveals that he is a very passionate person; he loves what he does and is not prepared to let it be taken away from him. He is ready to do whatever it takes to continue his dream and help make people think.
4. Chuck Close’s documentary I gain more respect for him. I more understand now about his disability and it makes me respect his work even more. By looking at the blotches of paint on the canvas before viewing this documentary I don’t know what I would have thought. Seeing the process could not ruin art work.
1. Chuck Close's earlier work consisted of black and white paintings on a large scale. These paintings look rather simple and, in a way, beautiful in their simplicity. His later work is very different, full of color. Each painting is made up of individual squares which are a part of a grid and each grid-square is painted abstractly, so the final product looks quite spectacular considering it is made up of tiny, abstract squares. I favor his later work because of its vibrancy and how it models a photograph, since each was painted from a photograph, so that it is clear in some parts as well as out-of-focus in others.
2. It is my personal belief that photo realism has artistic merit. Leo Tolstoy, on the other hand, would not agree with this statement. He would say that the hours Close would spend working on his masterpieces would have been completed in vain as any labor aimed towards becoming specialized in one specific domain of art is useless as it does not make a person "well-rounded" in art.
3. In order to continue his artwork, Chuck Close modified the way he created his art after he suffered a collapse of a spinal artery which left him partially paralyzed. Instead of having himself move around the canvas, he made it so that the canvas itself moved using specific technology. This canvas was able to move up, down, side to side, as well as to turn. A hole was made through the floor so that his wheelchair's limitation to the ground would not be a problem. These adjustments reveal that Chuck Close's character consists of determination and perseverance, not allowing himself to give up on his dream of painting because of his physical limitations.
4. Having viewed Chuck Close's process, I gain more respect and understanding of his work. His images in no way lose their mystique now that his process was revealed because, in my personal opinion, it only makes the images more amazing. Seeing how Close works makes the idea of achieving a photo-like painting almost impossible, yet it is. I gain respect for his talent and skill in painting, and viewing this process helps me understand how he achieves such masterpieces.
1. Chuck Close is an artist who is known for his photorealistic portraits. Early in his career, Chuck's paintings would look as realistic from up close as they did from far away. He mostly used layers of airbrushing to accomplish this effect. Later on in his career, Chuck used a systematic gridding system to create his paintings, which would only take on the form of a person from far away. Up close, the shapes of color that he used looked almost like elements from an abstract painting. Personally, I prefer his earlier work because I am fascinated by how realistic it looks. However, I think his later work is also interesting because of the way he uses basic shapes of color to create such realistic images.
2. I think that photo realism defiantly deserves some artistic merit since it takes a good amount of talent to be able to recreate reality as a form of art. Leo Tolstoy wouldn't approve of Chuck's art, and he would say that he is wasting his life pursuing a pointless profession, and would be better off in a career that actually benefitted society.
3. After his spinal artery collapse, Chuck painted by strapping a paintbrush to his wrist and painting on canvases that were gridded by an assistant. He also completed an entire portrait by using only inked fingerprints. The fact that he didn't give up on art after the incident shows that he has a lot of dedication and love for what he does.
4. While I think Chuck's artwork would have been more impressive if he didn't rely on grids to create them, the film really showed how Chuck has effectively adapted to his new physical condition in order to continue painting. I think his dedication prevents the mystique of his paintings from being lost. The film made me both Chuck and his respect Chuck more, since it showed how much trouble he goes though for each individual painting.
We will view the film "Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress" in class. Respond to the following questions in paragraph form by Friday, April 17.
1. Describe Close's work. How has it changed over time? Do you favor his early or late work? Explain.
Chuck Close’s type of art is known as photorealism. To do this he would talk a photo and then make work grid copies of photos by putting a grid on a photo and copying them cell by cell filling them with various hues. In his early work Close would make all of his paintings/pictures out of black and white paint, while his later work him used different types of grids at times and he used various colors. I prefer his older black and white work because I love black and white photos and when he does his black and white work, his portraits look so real just like a black and white photo that it is amazing.
2. Does photo realism have artistic merit, or are photo realists merely "one-trick ponies"? What would Leo Tolstoy say about Close's work?
I believe that photo realism does have artistic merit because it does take talent to create these portraits. It takes time, special techniques, and talent to create these re creation of photos by using paints and grids, and in my opinion, to make little boxes colored in look like real photos is art. Leo Tolstoy might not consider it art because it is just recreating a photo and it is not original work, but in my opinion its art and people such as Close are not just one trick ponies. Close is very artistic, but he just stays with the thing he is best at in art, and if people did what he does, then they would be really smart.
3. As you have learned, Chuck Close suffered a collapse of a spinal artery which left him partially paralyzed. Explain the modifications he makes to continue his artwork and what these adjustments reveal about his character.
Some of the modifications that Chuck Close makes are that he straps a paint brush to his wrist, and then to his hand in order to paint. He also had his assistants set up grids for him to paint. These adjustments reveal that Close will do anything to succeed as an artist and just be an artist period. He is truly serious about his work and feels that in order to feel like he has accomplished what he needs to in life, he will do anything to continue his artwork.
4. In the Jackson Pollock BBC film, we learned that Pollock's personal and artistic downfall was fueled by his decision to reveal his process in a documentary. Having viewed Chuck Close's process, do you gain more respect and understanding for his work? Or, do you think his images lose their mystique now that you have seen his process?
I give Chuck Close the utmost respect for what he does as an artist. Viewing Close’s process on how he creates his images is truly genius and either way no matter how he does it, it is still amazing. Plus, if anybody thinks they can do it they are wrong because it takes talent to do what he does and the portraits he makes are truly amazing. Overall, I do not think showing his process loses the mystique of his work because I still think it is amazing what he does as an artist.
Christine McBride
1 Chuck Close uses photo to create his artwork. His earlier years he used a black and white and sometimes he used air brush to create his work. His later work he used more color and made it abstract. I favor his later work because I love how he uses the color to create peoples faces.
2 I think photo realism does have a merit because it dose take talent to create these large scale paintings.
3 He uses a device to modify the board so it is closer to his level. Also he uses a hand device so he can paint with his hand.
4 No I think it has helped out his career because he makes such interesting painting. Also because of his situation it makes the painting more meaningful. It doesn’t lose any credit because it is something that most people can’t plan out
Post a Comment