Chuck Close
A Couple of Ways of Doing Something
Wednesday, June 11th 2003, 6.30 pm, Sandro Rumney, grandson of Peggy Guggenheim, will present a book of photo-portraits by the American painter and printmaker Chuck Close, published by art of this century. The presentation will be introduced by John Elderfield, Chief Curator of Paintings and Drawings at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, A Couple of Ways of Doing Something is a portfolio of twenty images of the artist’s friends, digitally printed from daguerreotypes and accompanied by poems by New York poet Robert Holman.
A framed edition of the prints, with accompanying poems, will be on show at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection through the opening days of the 50th Venice Biennale (June 11-16).
A Couple of Ways of Doing Something is published by ‘art of this century’ in conjunction with Harry Jancovici. It consists of five bound sections, each containing four portraits of artists such as Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, Terry Winters, and James Turrell, as well as other cultural figures such as composer Philip Glass and artist/stage designer Robert Wilson. A touching evocation of the relationships among friends, the book represents an emblematic example of Close’s contemporary practice as well as a long-standing desire on Close’s part to make a book. While much of Close’s work is celebrated for its large format, these images retain the vertiginous up-close-and-personal feel of the large paintings, while having an intimacy that is particular to the daguerreotype and book form.
After studying at the University of Washington, Yale University, and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna, Chuck Close began painting biomorphic abstract works. However, he soon began experimenting with figurative constructions and copying black-and-white photographs in paint. His neutral, black-and-white head-and-shoulder photographic paintings have become iconic works that have served as a departure for his exploration and breakdown of facial details. By 1970, Close had begun to use color again, and to work in pencil, ink, paper, and paint to render his images in separate color squares, fingerprint marks, and pulp paper fragments.
Close’s critical interest in modes of representation links him to conceptual art as well as photorealism, and both his color range and techniques acknowledge the important role mechanical reproduction has played in contemporary art.
Insititutional Patrons: Banca del Gottardo, Ras, Regione Veneto
The programs of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are made possible by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Advisory Board and Intrapresæ Collezione Guggenheim.