Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration [Paperback]

Terrie Sultan (Author), Richard Shiff (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2003

Chuck Close--a man who describes himself as "an artist looking for trouble"--has for three decades consistently but variously challenged the accepted boundaries of the printmaking tradition. Published to accompany a retrospective of his prints opening at Blaffer Gallery and traveling to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and several additional museums around the country, this is the first comprehensive survey of Close's revolutionary prints.

Featuring exquisite reproductions of the prints together with essays on Close's career and in-depth interviews with the artist and his master printmakers, the volume blends words and images to give readers unique insight into the creative process. The text highlights the intensely collaborative nature of Close's project and looks into the challenges posed by the unprecedented huge scale he prefers. Close may labor on a single print for as long as two years, working out aesthetic problems that might involve the retrieval of a centuries-old European method on one day and the creation of an entirely new technique (such as applying sunscreen to block light) the next. "Prints have moved me in my unique work more than anything else has," Close says. "Prints change the way I think about things."

From the artist's ambitious first mezzotint to his recent pulp-paper multiples, this book chronicles the genius of Chuck Close in the medium in which he has done his most exciting work. Taken together, these prints constitute a remarkable self-portrait of the creative drive, vision, and intellect of one of America's most important living artists.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston

September 13-November 23, 2003

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

January 13-April 18, 2004

Miami Art Museum, Florida

May 14-August 22, 2004

Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee

October 29, 2004-March 27, 2005

Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina

April 16-August 7, 2005

Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts

September 6-December 4, 2005

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas

April 16-June 28, 2006

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, Wisconsin

July 29 - October 6, 2006

Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA

January 28-April 20, 2007

Boise Art Museum, Idaho

May 12-August 11, 2007

Portland Art Museum, Oregon

September-December 2007

Editorial Reviews

Review

If seen by enough people, Chuck Close Prints should go a long way toward correcting many misunderstandings about prints, not least the misapprehension that they must be the handmaiden to painting, a kind of 'quick fix.' For Close, who has a penchant for the conceptual reversals requisite in printmaking . . . prints have offered an unqualified extension of his practice, both expressive and technical. -- Faye Hirsch, Art in America

There have been numerous catalogs from exhibitions in which Close's prints were included and about a dozen on Close alone in the last ten years. . . . However, this catalog is one of the best ones. -- Choice

Chuck Close, the great postmodern pointillist printmaker, is a methodical perfectionist. Fittingly, Terrie Sultan goes much deeper than the usual artist appreciation in Chuck Close Prints. After Sultan's introduction and an essay by Richard Shiff, an art professor at the University of Texas, Austin, whole chapters are devoted to each type of printmaking that Close has mastered. -- Ted Loos, New York Times Book Review

From the Inside Flap

"Close's relationship to printmaking is in the tradition of Durer, Rembrandt, Goya, and Picasso--who all used printmaking for its unique qualities as a creative process and as a means of solving esthetic issues. The interviews give a real sense of Close's enthusiasm for printmaking and for process, and the detailed illustrations are fascinating."--Judith K. Brodsky, Founding Director, The Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 069111577X
• ISBN-13: 978-0691115771
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Prints

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional book for printmakers, March 19, 2008

By 

Gary Comoglio "blockprinter" (SF, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration (Paperback)

Hmmmm, how do I start. This is one of my favorite printmaking artists. Chuck Close does not work within any printmaking boundaries, he goes beyond them. His etchings extend the boundaries of how many plates can be printed prior to the paper deteriorating, his blockprints are absolutely mind bending and astounding, his reduction linocuts are masterful, and his creativity for paper pulp prints is freakishly genius. I love, love, love this book, and if you have any connection to works on paper or printed images then you too will love the interviews with Chuck Close, and the explanation of the process and collaboration. need I say more? buy this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars photos are good, July 15, 2006

By 

Yi Ling Wu (Taipei, Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration (Paperback)

The illustrations of this book are very good for understanding the works of the artist and the process as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest art books ever published, April 21, 2006

By 

clifford "akitonmyers" (Portland, OR, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration (Hardcover)

The first reviewer here is nuts. This is a book that was released when Chuck Close had a retrospective on his prints. This book has info on the prints and no paintings. what is great about 'Process and Collaboration' is the fact that it delves so deeply into Closes working habbits and how he pretty much invents his process from one small series of works to the next.

This book gave me a huge boost in my appreciation for Close. I liked him before, but this added so much depth to my understanding of him as an artist. I now feel as though Close is as complicated as any other artist that I have knowledge of. Even though he has built a long and vibrant legacy based on nothing more than close-up head shots. This is a must have book and I only wish that every artists retrospective went into a similar amount of detail.