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Chuck Close

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Artist

The Resume

    (July 5, 1940-August 19, 2021)
    Born in Monroe, Washington
    Birth name was Charles Thomas Close
    Known for large-scale photorealistic portraits and later for pixelated portraits
    Received the National Medal of the Arts (2000)

Why he might be annoying:

    His first solo exhibition, at the University of Massachusetts Art Gallery, was closed by university administrators, who claimed that male nudes that were part of the exhibition were obscene (1967).
    Among the many schools giving him honorary degrees was Yale -- the alma mater from which he had received an actual Master of Fine Arts degree.
    Six models came forward with allegations of sexual harassment, claiming he made obscene comments to them as the posed in his studio.
    As a result, the National Gallery of Art cancelled a planned exhibition of his works (2018).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He became interested in portraits because he suffered from prosopagnosia (face blindness), a condition that made it difficult for him to recognize faces.
    He suffered a spinal artery collapse (December 7, 1988) that initially left him paralyzed from the neck down.
    After months of physical therapy, he regained partial control of his arms and resumed painting with a brush strapped to his wrist.
    He mentored 34 students at Roosevelt School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as part of the Turnaround Arts Initiative.
    His neurologist suggested that his untoward behavior with the models may have been a result of his dementia causing disinhibition.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying