Chuck Close: A Couple of Ways of Doing Something - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1597110183 ISBN 13: 9781597110181

Publisher: Aperture, 2006

Synopsis

A Couple of Ways of Doing Something replicates a deluxe limited-edition portfolio whose initial run was only 75 copies. This clothbound edition preserves the luxurious sensibility of the original with 22 extraordinary oversized daguerreotypes printed in rich tritone. Working with daguerreotype master Jerry Spagnoli to conquer the complexities of this venerable process, which yields images of astonishing detail and gravity, Chuck Close photographed many of the same artist-friends who have made regular appearances in his paintings over the years: Laurie Anderson, Lyle Ashton Harris, Cecily Brown, Gregory Crewdson, Carroll Dunham, Ellen Gallagher, Philip Glass, Bob Holman, Elizabeth Murray, Elizabeth Peyton, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, James Siena, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, James Turrell, Robert Wilson, Terry Winters, Lisa Yuskavage and himself. Each image is complemented by a poem on its subject by Bob Holman, the celebrated and widely published New York School poet who originated and hosted the famous Poetry Slams at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and now runs the Bowery Poetry Club. With the counterpoint of Holman's engaging poetry, the collected work becomes a transfixing group portrait of Close's influential and highly creative circle of friends and colleagues, as well as an exploration of a challenging photographic medium. A traveling exhibition of the work will launch in November 2006 at the Aperture Gallery.

About this title

Review:

"A stunning, oversized volume featuring 20 extraordinary daguerreotype portraits by Chuck Close and praise poems by Bob Holman." --Photo District News

"Words and pictures -- a dialogue, a dance, a duet. These stunning portraits by Chuck Close were created as daguerreotypes, with the assistance of Jerry Spagnoli, a master of the medium. They are portraits of Close's friends--artists, writers and musicians such as Cindy Sherman and Philip Glass... With the sitters as collaborators, the images become 'self portraits.' Accompanied by 'praise poems' created by Holman, they also make for a fascinating look at a multitude of selves." --B&W: Black & White Magazine, For Collectors of Fine Photography

"The portraits are incredibly detailed, offering an intimate insight into Close's friendships with these people. The poems are designed to capture both the subjects' personality and artistic style, while the playful individual typesetting encourages readers to make a connection between text and image." --HotShoe International

"Chuck Close's A Couple of Ways of Doing Something is an attempt to redefine collaboration between the printed word and the image." --American Photo

"The portraits hold you in their gaze. Emerging from pitch black darkness, they shimmer silvery and glowing, looming large and hazy except for a sliver of very sharp, shallow focus: perhaps only the glint of one telling eye, and a patch of shining detailed porous skin. They sear you." -- Jim Casper --LensCulture

About this edition

• Publisher: Aperture
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1597110183
• ISBN 13: 9781597110181
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 56