Chuck Close

CHUCK CLOSE, an astounding portrait of one of the world's leading contemporary painters, was a parting gift from filmmaker Marion Cajori before she died. With editing completed by Ken Kobland, CHUCK CLOSE outlines the life and work of a man who has reinvented portraiture. Close photographs his subjects, blows up the image to gigantic proportions, divides it into a detailed grid and then uses a complex set of colors and patterning to reconstruct each face. The genius of the film is not only that it allows the artist to illuminate his methodology (he is wonderfully articulate), but also that it features his friends and colleagues (Brice Marden, Robert Storr, Dorothea Rockburne, Philip Glass, Arne Glimcher, Kiki Smith, Elizabeth Murray, Alex Katz, Kirk Varnedoe, among others) who make important contributions to appreciating Close's gifts.