A crowd is not company,
and faces are but a gallery of pictures.
-Francis Bacon
Despite his disability, Close's more recent work contains all of the artistic
direction of his earlier paintings. However, a clear change has taken place.
Close has spent his entire career exploring the human face. In a review
of his new book, Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan of The Horn Book describe
the change; "The eerie detail of his early work holds the attraction
of trompe l'oeil, while his later work can appear abstract when viewed up
close and realistic when viewed from a distance."
From the beginning, his paintings have been enormous, often nine or ten
feet in height. Close explains, "The bigger the art, the harder it
is to ignore." In his earlier works, the subjects are painted in such
detail that every hair, wrinkle, and freckle is apparent. Close developed
a method for acheiving this effect that is extremely grounded in mathematics.
First, he would photograph his subject. Then he would divide up the photograph,
making a grid of squares. He then tests each individual square to establish
a color scheme for the entire piece. He continues to subdivide each square
to refine the detail of the picture further and further. Rarely did Close
completely dissolve the squares, but they would become small enough that
when the viewer steps back, the eyes blend the seams together naturally
Robert/104,072
Working row by row, Close establishes a foundation and then adds layers
of different colors in various shapes. Close says, "I want to force
the viewer to look at bits and pieces of information and make a whole out
of those pieces." (This can be compared to our understanding of four
dimensional objects. We can see the bits and pieces. The difference is that
we are unable to step back and view the whole.) Depending on the number
of squares and the size and detail of the paintings, it can tak months or
even years to complete just one. The black-and -white painting, "Robert/104,072"
required Close to make more than one million marks in the 104,072 spaces.
Robert/104,072 (Details)
