detail

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light
reflection
detached
photographic
detail
Photo Realism
Duane Hanson
Richard Estes
Janet Fish
Chuck Close
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Photo Realism
Major players Chuck Close Richard Estes
Janet Fish
They believed that photographic images have
become more real to many people than actual
objects They used paints and brushes, but saw
the world through the lens of a camera. Many of
their works were actually mistaken for
photographs. Often the artist is detached from
the subject. Their works tended not to have an
emotional quality at all. Nothing is personal
about the subject matter, and there is rarely a
single focal point.
P H O T O - R E A L I S M
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Janet Fish
Photo-Realism
Janet never considered herself to be a
photo-realist, but her complex still life
paintings have clearly been influenced by
photography. Born in 1938, Janet stated that she
cannot remember ever wanting to be anything but
an artist. Her Grandmother was a sculptor and
her Grandfather was a painter. She graduated
from Yale in 1963-- she was discouraged from
painting realistically the entire time she
attended college. After graduation, she moved
to New York City. There she lived in an unheated
loft apartment and had to take showers at
friends houses. She spent most of her money on
painting supplies and object to paint.
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Janet Fish
Photo-Realism
Tightly cropped images that fill the entire
frame. Foreground and background are compressed
as if seen through a telephoto lens Emphasis was
on reflection and pattern. Focus was on how
light plays on the surface of reflective objects
Green Glass for Alexis
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Green Glass for Alexis
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Janet Fish
Visual Characteristics
Photo-Realism
All details are equally important. Eye moves
through the composition in an effort to see all
of the equally important details. Often seen
from above (hovering) Reflecting patterns of
light and shadow. Vibrant color (later
work) Undefined sense of space. Often uses
mirrored surfaces Used natural sunlight
Fish Vase
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Fish Vase
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Janet Fish
Photo-Realism
Quotes
My real subject is the movement of light and
color from one form to another I want my
paintings to have energy, a movement that goes
across the entire surface.
Waterlilies and Peaches
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Waterlilies and Peaches
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gallery of images
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J a n e t F i s h
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J a n e t F i s h
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J a n e t F i s h
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J a n e t F i s h
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Chuck Close
Photo-Realism
Chuck Close was influence by the images of the
Pop Artists. He felt the same way about
Americas dependence on the second hand visual
experience. None of his portraits are
traditional. They tell us nothing about the
subjects lives, feelings, character, profession,
or social status. His works are merely paintings
of photos of faces. The overwhelming detail
forces us to think not about the subject, but
about the image itself- how and why it was
made.
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Chuck Close
Photo-Realism
He magnified every blemish and imperfection. His
early work was created using an airbrush, as to
mimic the mechanical quality of a
photograph. The process of creating the painting
was equally important to Chuck Close as the
finished image.
Leslie. 1973
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C H U C K C L O S E
Leslie 1973
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C H U C K C L O S E
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Chuck Close
Photo-Realism
I paint heads because heads matter to everybody.
If you paint a face big enough, its hard to
ignore. My real subjects are not people, I
paint portraits of photographs If you make
something new and personal, it may not look like
art at all.
Self Portrait. 1991
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Self portrait 1991
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Chuck Close
Photo-Realism
In 1988 Chuck Close was hospitalized due to the
sudden collapse of a spinal artery. He has since
been paralyzed from the waist down. He
continues to paint on the same scale that he had
always painted on. Now he has attendants that
help him with the preliminary work, but he still
does the actual painting. Sometimes he sits on a
forklift, and other times he uses a special
mechanical easel that raises, lowers, and rotates
his canvases for him.
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Chuck Close
Photo-Realism
Uses a grid to enlarge the photos onto the
canvas. Frontal head posed in almost a
passport-photo view Unsmiling lips and dead-pan
eyes. Used several different media to create his
portraits Airbrush, Fingerprints, Crayon,
Acrylic Paint, Oil Paint, Pencil, Pen, Paper
Collage,
Keith
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Chuck Close Gallery
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C H U C K C L O S E
Alex 1987
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April 1991
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C H U C K C L O S E
Cindy 1988
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C H U C K C L O S E
Elizabeth 1989
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C H U C K C L O S E
Eric (in progress)
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C H U C K C L O S E
Joel 1993
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Lucas 1991
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Roy II
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Self portraits
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Chuck Close