NEW YORK—Chuck Close favors working on a large scale and his painted portraits are composed of intricate patterns, repeated symbols that together when viewed from a distance create incredible life-like images.
At this year’s International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Fair, Two Palms Gallery is showing a Close self-portrait that must be examined up-close to appreciate his technique. The artist has silk-screened what appears to be an exaggerated, stretched image of himself that when reflected in the stainless steel cylinder placed at the center of the work is a precisely formed image of Close. If you kneel down while looking at the cylinder, the reflected image is compressed and appears to shrink in height. The opposite occurs when someone who is tall looks at the reflected portrait. It’s a clever approach from an innovative artist.
Photos by Arts Observer
“Self-portrait (anamorphic)” 2009 (silkscreen on Tosahanga paper, polished stainless steel cylinder and maple wood platform) by Chuck Close, with Close’s “Phil Croshatch” 2010, in the background at left.