Tim Marlow TV - Chuck Close - Biography online -
He [Chuck Close] makes these Polaroids and then you can either end up as a tapestry or you can end up as the basis of a painting. Tim Marlow Meets Renee Fleming, Sky Arts 2010
I always thought that inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. You sign onto a process and see where it takes you. You don’t have to invent the wheel every day. Today you’ll do what you did yesterday and tomorrow you’ll do what you did today. Eventually you’ll get somewhere. Every great idea I ever had grew out of work itself. If you’re going to wait a around for the clouds to open up and lightning to strike you in the brain you’re not going to make an awful lot of work. Chuck Close
I think most paintings are a record of the decisions that the artist made. I just perhaps make them a little clearer than some people have. Chuck Close
This early work was bold, intimate and up-front, replicating the particular details of his selected faces. In addition, his pieces blurred the distinction between painting and photography in a way that had never been done before. His techniques too were noteworthy, in particular his application of colour, which helped pave the way for the development of the inkjet printer.
By the late 1960s, Close and his photo-realist pieces were entrenched in the New York City art scene ...
By the 1970s, Close’s work was shown in the world’s finest galleries, and he was widely considered one of America’s best contemporary artists. Biography online