Face to Face with Chuck Close

I first learned of the Artist Chuck Close when my sister took me for a visit to the St. Louis Art Museum. The place is top notch and you can walk right up in there and see masterpieces from all eras for nothing. If you want a post card or a decent parking spot, that will cost you an arm and a leg. However, if you are willing to walk a mile, and combat your thirst by saving your spit and swallowing it, you can get some culture in your life for next to nothing..  Chuck Close caught me by surprise because my first glimpse at a painting that was about 5 feet wide by ten feet tall, was mistaken for a photograph. It turns out Chuck Close paints ultra real faces that look super high def.. It's absolutely amazing, and a digital representation does it no justice. You almost have to see it in person. I am going off memory here, but I recall Chuck has a condition of some sort in the brain that doesn't allow him to remember faces and that's why he gravitates towards painting them. His process is cool as well. He brakes down each portion of the image into grid like squares and works the piece one square at a time... Amazing keeps coming to mind when I search for words to describe the work... Look at the pictures below and remember that these are paintings.... 64


This was a self portrait done earlier in his career.    Below was a portrait done later on...

                                    



                                                                           








Below is the Picture I saw in the STL Art Museum...
 It was a giant, and again, it looked like it was a printed photograph... The detail was awe inspiring.