Merce Cunningham, 2004

Charles (Chuck) Close is an American painter and photographer. Through his creative an intricate techniques he has gained fame as a photo-realist. Chuck's art focuses on the human face and is best known for his large scale portraits which are photo based paintings. His art extends to printmaking, photography and tapestries. He has taken his place at the top of the American art world for his large scale pieces that are creatively blurred between photography and painting. Close graduated from Yale with a Masters of Fine Arts where he changed his focus from heavy abstract to what is now his signature- photo-realism. He describes this style as "knitting" as he uses Polaroids of his models and then recreates them on large canvas. Early in his style, Chuck recreated specific details of faces, which was notably incredible as he suffers from a condition that makes him face-blindness and is unable to recognize faces. His technique in color application is also noted to have paved the way for the development of the inkjet printer. In the 1960's his works were entrenched in the New York City art scene and by the 1970's his work was being shown worldwide in galleries. Chuck Close was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton and recently President Obama appointed him to serve on the The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Chuck experienced a severe health issue in 1988 which left him almost completely paralyzed. Even with his physical limitations he has learned how to regain his ability to paint. His reputation among the top American artists remains unchanged and his work continues to receive rave reviews and expensive commissions. (Artist website)