Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Tapestries

October 2 - November 3, 2013

Continuing his lifelong exploration of experimental portraiture, artist Chuck Close's series Tapestries features the faces of internationally renowned artists woven into mural-sized textiles. To create this series, several of Close's iconic black-and-white daguerreotypes were digitally scanned to capture and magnify the dense, detailed layers of silver particles in each of his photographic plates. The resulting "weave files" became the blueprints for the large-scale textiles expertly woven by Magnolia Editions on electronic Jacquard looms. In each roughly eight-by-seven-foot wall-hanging, every line, freckle, or slight tonal variation in a subject's face translates into thousands of colored threads, much in the way a pointillist painting is comprised of countless individual dots. Through this inventive use of textiles, Close has yet again broadened the conceptual and material possibilities of the composite image, with mesmerizing results.

Born in 1940 in Monroe, Washington, Chuck Close is best known for his large-scale, photorealist paintings of the human face, although his practice extends beyond painting to encompass printmaking, photography, and, most recently, tapestries based on his photographic images. In 2000, Close was presented with the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. Close is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has served on the board of many arts organizations, and was recently appointed by President Obama to serve on The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Close's work can be found in the collections of numerous institutions, including those of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Tate Modern in London, and the Walker Art Center. He is represented by Pace Gallery in New York.