"Chuck Close, an astounding portrait of one of the world's leading contemporary painters, was one of two parting gifts (her second is a film on Louise Bourgeois) from Marion Cajori, a filmmaker who died recently, and before her time. With editing completed by filmmaker Ken Kobland, Chuck Close limns 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 this film is not only to allow the artist to illuminate his methodology (he is wonderfully articulate), but also to feature 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." - Karen Cooper, Film Forum
Chuck Close will attend the screening and, with Vincent Katz and Matthew von Unwerth, participate in an introductory discussion.
Following the screening, there will be further discussion of the film with Vincent Katz, director of Kiki Smith: Squatting the Palace, which was shown at the Philoctetes Center in November, 2006. Mr. Katz is a poet, translator, art critic, editor, and curator. He is the author of nine books of poetry, including Cabal of Zealots, Understanding Objects, and Rapid Departures. He is the editor of the poetry and arts journal VANITAS and of Libellum books. Katz writes frequently on contemporary art and has published essays on the work of Francesco Clemente, Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, Philip Taaffe, and Cy Twombly. Vincent Katz and Vivien Bittencourt's video documentary, "Man in the Woods: The Art of Rudy Burckhardt," which features interviews with Rudy Burckhardt, along with Yvonne Jacquette, Robert Storr, and Brian Wallis, was screened at the 22nd Montreal International Festival of Films on Art and was awarded the "Best of Festival" prize in the Arts category at the 2004 Berkeley Film and Video Festival.
This film is shown in collaboration with Film Forum, New York's leading nonprofit cinema for independent film premieres and repertory programming. The running time is 116 minutes.