Joel
1993
A monumental 1993 oil-on-canvas portrait by Chuck Close constructed from his signature grid-based vocabulary. Each cell contains a self-contained abstract motif that resolves into a precisely observed face when viewed at a distance. The work exemplifies Close's lifelong interrogation of portraiture, perception, and the mechanics of image-making, shifting photorealism into a meditation on pattern, rhythm, and structure.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Pace Gallery
Collectors of Chuck Close
Also spotted by
Artists in conversation
Gerhard Richter
German · b. 1932
Richter similarly works from photographs to create large scale photorealist portrait paintings, blurring the boundary between painting and photography with meticulous attention to the human face and systematic compositional methodology.
Duane Hanson
American · b. 1925
Hanson shared Close's obsessive photorealist approach to capturing human likeness at monumental scale, rendering faces and figures with extraordinary documentary detail that forces viewers to confront the raw physicality of the human form.
Franz Gertsch
Swiss · b. 1930
Gertsch created massive photorealist portrait paintings derived directly from photographic sources, sharing Close's commitment to extreme scale, grid based working methods, and meticulous rendering of facial features with near clinical precision.
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