Self-portrait (Primary Title)
Chuck Close, American, 1940 - 2021 (Artist)
"It’s only through the particular, personal manipulations of these basic units that you can build a transcendent experience that becomes greater than the sum of its parts." —Chuck Close
Close has been his own most frequent subject. His selfportraits maintain a consistent manner with all his work: tightly cropped, centered, pushed to the front, and revealing little interiority. As with his other subjects, Close deals with his face as a terrain over which he maps a painted, drawn, or printed topography. The grid has been integral to Close’s work from the beginning when it served as a simple aid for transferring a photographic image onto canvas or paper. Over time it became more visible, until each increment was treated like an individual composition. Like his recent paintings, this late self-portrait print fills each square with bright dabs of color, creating a brilliant, pixilated image.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.