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Chuck Close

PAINTER/PHOTOGRAPHER/PRINTMAKER



Project: Create a portrait of the artist Kara Walker



Special Report: How Genius Works A photorealistic portraitist who emerged from a generation of abstract painters, Close has often imposed limitations on his work, as when he created a nine-square-foot painting with just two tablespoons of paint. Since suffering partial paralysis in 1988, he's overcome new limitations to develop an iconic style that combines the rigidity of a grid with fluid, abstract shapes. Close is at work now on a portrait series of female artists and describes the process he used to capture his fellow painter Kara Walker.


In Close's New York studio, the artist sat down with his friend Paul Simon for a conversation about the creative process.

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