Chuck Close fundraiser for Obama Victory Fund

Chuck Close - Obama (large), 2012
Archival watercolor pigment print (45°) on Hahnemühle rag paper
Image: 66 1/4 x 54 3/4 in. Paper: 75 x 60 in. Edition of 10, published by Magnolia Editions
Magnolia Editions is pleased to announce the publication of two tapestry editions and three print editions by Chuck Close, depicting President Barack Obama and issued as a fundraiser for the Obama Victory Fund.

Close, who does not accept commissions, has previously sold his art at auction to raise funds for the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Al Gore, and has created celebrated tapestry portraits of various friends and contemporaries including Vice President Gore and artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Philip Glass, and Cindy Sherman. After being appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Close offered to photograph Obama and was subsequently allotted an eight minute visit with the President to create a portrait. Fortunately, Obama ended up staying at the session for over an hour, in part because of the time needed to switch to the black and white camera Close uses to create photographs for his tapestries. The first tapestry portrait from this sitting, Obama I, was unveiled at the Mint Museum in North Carolina in early September in honor of the Democratic National Convention.

Chuck Close - Obama II, 2012
Jacquard tapestry; 94 x 76 in. approximately. Edition of 10, published by Magnolia Editions
Close's two tapestry portraits of the President, Obama I and Obama II, are black and white portraits woven from Polaroid photographs; they are editions of 10, priced at $100,000 each. The editions on paper are archival watercolor prints, issued in three sizes and based on the same color Polaroid image. The small prints are an edition of 200 priced at $5,000 each; the medium-sized prints are an edition of 40 priced at $25,000 each; and the large prints are an edition of 10, priced at $50,000 each. A number of the prints have been signed by both Close and the President. All of the works were created by Chuck Close in collaboration with Magnolia Editions director Donald Farnsworth.

Prints and tapestries from these editions will be offered at a fundraiser held at Lever House in New York on Wednesday, October 3, 2012. The print editions are also currently available through President Obama's website.

More art by Chuck Close at Magnolia Editions.

New Chuck Close tapestry edition

Chuck Close - Lucas, 2011
Jacquard tapestry, 87 x 74 in. Edition of 6
Chuck Close's first tapestry edition of 2011 is a portrait of the groundbreaking artist Lucas Samaras, who (like Close) is perhaps best known for his self-portraits. Samaras's work often involves one of Close's favorite photographic media – the Polaroid, which Samaras manipulates in innovative ways to produce "photo-transformations."

Close’s Lucas is woven at a more intimate size than his previous tapestries, and the unprecedented detail in its matte surface is due to a higher thread count and a new palette which includes wool fibers for several of the black values in the work. With darker blacks and brighter whites than any of Magnolia’s previous tapestry publications, this work has an exceptionally photographic quality appropriate to its subject.

Like his other tapestry editions depicting fellow artists and creative figures, Close's tapestry portrait of Samaras was digitally translated from a daguerreotype. Together with Cindy Sherman and Andres Serrano, also subjects of Close tapestries, and the painter Alex Katz (another artist who has created a tapestry with Magnolia Editions), these two artists are largely responsible for redefining contemporary portraiture: the extraordinary detail of Close's image and the sheer intensity of Samaras's gaze leave no doubt that both artist and subject are masters of their craft.

Chuck Close - Lucas Press Release (PDF, 179 Kb)

More art by Chuck Close at Magnolia Editions

UPDATE:

Here is a nice high resolution photo of Lucas at White Cube Gallery's booth at the Armory Fair in New York last month, courtesy of Artobserved.com (check their site for more photos from the fair):

photo by L. Streeter, Artobserved.com - click to enlarge