Chuck Closes Life and Book Review Essay - 1686 Words

Chuck Close was born on July 5, 1940, in Monroe, Washington, and grew up in the blue-collar town of Everett. He earned his B.A. from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1962, and two years later his M.F.A. from Yale University, and taught art classes at the University of Massachusetts. Close was married to Leslie Rose for more than four decades and together have two daughters. The couple first daughter, Georgia Molly, was born in 1973, and Maggie Sarah in 1984. He has lived with Prosopagnosia, a disorder that impaired the ability to recognize faces, but not objects. It would be this disorder that would shape his career as a photorealist, doing close-up as a way to remember and recognize his subjects including his friends. Chuck Close†¦show more content†¦They say that through time people change the way they see things and lately my taste for art has changed. Today I no longer root for Goliath, but instead for David. In today’s art world we could probably say tha t without trepidation that Chuck Close is our David. Close had to overcome many obstacles to reach his success. He had to deal with many disabilities and a life-threatening stroke that almost killed him, but instead he used those obstacles in his life as a motivation to accomplish his goals both as an artist and individual. Although I was somehow familiar with the artist I had never read anything in length about him. I decided to make a selection of books of the artist in order to learn more about the artist. The books that I selected would inform and delight those who want to know more in depth about the artist career and private life. One of the most interesting books written about Chuck Close is Chuck Close: Work (Prestel Publishing, $85). This book is fascinating both because Christopher Finch, an artist, author, and former associate curator for the Walker Art Center, and his close relationship wrote it with the artist. Finch first encounter with Close was at the Walker Art Center. Their first