“One of the most influential artists of our time, Chuck Close has consistently advanced the art of printmaking. Through his collaborations with printers, and with his interest in methods and technologies, Close generates prints that acknowledge and utilize traditional processes but also propel them into a new era. The results are visually stunning” —Amanda Maddox, assistant curator of photography at Corcoran Gallery of Art

Celebrating over 4 decades of paint-making, Chuck Close: Radical Innovator has officially opened at Contessa Gallery and will be on display through January 12th. Close’s art is featured permanently in over 65 museums including the Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA in NY, and the National Portrait Gallery, to name a few.

The style of Close is one that is constantly changing in terms of choice in artistic medium, but he is always known for his carefully put-together large-scale portraits that range anywhere from hand-made paper pulp sculptures to water colored loveliness.

Contessa Gallery’s exhibit will center around the mezzotint piece Keith / Mezzotint, one of Close’s earlier portraits he finished right around the time he graduated from Yale, which was quite impressive considering his inexperience at the time.

“The individual grid units stayed as discrete areas … After finishing Keith, I started doing dot drawings and other pieces in which the incremental unit was visible and ultimately celebrated in a million different ways. That all came from making this print,” Close said about the groundbreaking work that would go on to form the rest of his career.

For more information about the exhibit contact Steve Hartman at 216.382.7800 or by e-mailing art@contessagallery.com.

Contessa Gallery
24667 Cedar Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44124
216.382.7800

(via PR Newswire, art tattler, deviantART, and Contessa Gallery)