Chuck Close

Chuck Close forced the world to look at faces differently. In the late 1960s, he emerged with colossal, photorealistic portraits that were less about capturing a soul and more about interrogating the very surface of identity. Working from photographs, he would superimpose a grid and painstakingly transfer each tiny square to a vast canvas, building a face from an accumulation of abstract marks. This systematic, almost mechanical approach was upended in 1988 when a spinal artery collapse left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Confined to a wheelchair, with a brush strapped to his wrist, Close reinvented his process. The grids remained, but the cells within them exploded with vibrant color, loose brushwork, and circular forms. His later work became a vibrant tapestry of improvisation within strict structure. Close's career thus split into two profound chapters: a cool, monumental first act, and a second, no less rigorous act defined by joyous physicality and defiant adaptation.