Since the 1980s, the artist has evolved towards a form of painting which combines photographic precision and abstract structures. Chuck Close uses frontal photographs to creates monumental portraits, translating the image line by line, square by square, from left to right and from top to bottom.
The photograph is transformed into a colourful mosaic, a regular grid composed of thousands of squares which bring the canvas to life and represent the face even as they cover it. Seen close up, the colours are independent chromatic units which, as you move further away, blend together into a portrait whose appearance reflects the photographic origin of the work.
Exhibition overview
The Fondation Cartier presents eight recent paintings by Chuck Close, a major US artist known as one of the main proponents of photorealism – a movement that appeared in the United States between 1965 and 1970.
Artists and contributors of the exhibition:
- Chuck Close
The exhibition in detail
Image gallery
