Exhibition Review- Chuck Close: 'Process & Collaboration'

Chuck Close is an american painter who is most known for his photo-realist approach to his portraits of family and friends but in 1988 was paralyzed by a spinal artery collapse and is now in a wheelchair but amazingly that never stopped him from making work. His illness forced him to find a new way to work so had to move on from his detailed photo-like paintings so now works in a more abstract way.

This exhibition was held at The White Cube Bermondsey in London from the 6th of march until the 21st of April. This is a newer gallery as it only opened in October 2011 however it is the biggest of all of The White Cube galleries. It has 3 major exhibition spaces and also has a book shop which is rather handy as art book are not exactly the easiest to get hold on in a regular book shop. To go along side the exhibitions they also run lectures in their 60 seat auditorium so it is great for those in education. Although it is great because it displays work of very well known artists it is focused on making money rather than getting artists known in the world.

I have admired Chuck Close's work for a long time as although I'm studying photography I tend to find myself more inspired by artwork and I think his work shows a lot of skill. The piece that I've always loved is 'Emma' which he created in 2002 however what I did not realize was that he had a few different versions using oil paint, watercolors and woodblocks.His work is one of those must-see because its even more incredible in person especially as they are large scale pieces so they have a great impact in an exhibition than a book.

Emma,2002

Although I am normally not the biggest fan of such a clean layout gallery I felt this one worked because although still on white walls it had a classic but simple layout and was not over packed with work but it just felt fitting to chuck closes work. I would happily go back here to see other artists work as they kept it simple yet professional.

Sources:

http://whitecube.com/

Book: Chuck Close (Exhibition),1998-1999 :Museum of Modern Art http://prism.talis.com/jersey/items/226834?query=chuck+close&resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dchuck%2Bclose