Chuck Close

I have a special affinity for the pop artist. His work, now easily reproduced with the digital medium, is nonetheless stunning in person. Much as some musicians need to be seen in concert to be appreciated, Chuck Close's art must be seen up close (heh) to be truly understood.

Here is a man, nearly paralyzed, who creates photo-realistic paintings logarithmically bigger than the subject matter. From a distance each work seems to be nothing more than a well done oil painting, but as one approaches the truth can be seen. Whether an attempt to recreate our finely crafted biological optics, or representative of the mechanics of photography, his art is surreal yet precise.

My personal connection? As a child abruptly saddled with the necessity of glasses, I was amused by the ease in which I could stand quite close to his paintings and by simply removing my glasses see up close what others had to stand far back to observe.