Media Contacts:
Gabriel Riera: 305.375.1706
griera@miamidade.gov
Maile Rodriguez: 305.375.1705
maile@miamidade.gov

A Leading Figure In Contemporary Art
Arrives In Miami

Chuck Close Prints

Process and Collaboration
May 14 – August 22, 2004

Miami, Florida -- Miami Art Museum is pleased to present Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration. Long celebrated as one of America’s foremost painters, Chuck Close is also a master of the artistic language of printmaking. Direct from its presentation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this exhibition chronicles the genius of Chuck Close in the medium in which he has done some of his most exciting work. In Miami, the exhibition has been coordinated by MAM Assistant Director for Programs and Senior Curator, Peter Boswell. Included in MAM’s presentation is a new woodcut self-portrait that has never been exhibited before.

Chuck Close will be visiting Miami in preparation for MAM’s presentation of the exhibition. While in Miami, Mr. Close will present a public lecture on May 15, at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, and will also be speaking to students with disabilities about his experiences with dyslexia and other physical challenges, at MAM on May 12. For more information, please call: 305-375-4073.

In Close’s work the human face becomes a series of gridded abstractions that create a whole image when assembled in the eye of the viewer. Curated by Terrie Sultan, director of Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, Chuck Close Prints features 118 works dating from 1972 to 2002, illustrating the artist’s range of invention in etching, aquatint, lithography, handmade paper, direct gravure, silkscreen, traditional Japanese woodcut, and reduction linocut.

Close has said that his experiments in printmaking have been enormously influential on his paintings. “Prints have moved me in my unique work more than anything else has. Prints change the way I think about things.”

In the course of his career, Close has overcome a series of difficulties; his father died when he was still a boy, his mother became seriously ill and the artist himself was dyslexic – a condition which for lack of an accurate diagnosis, led him to be labeled “slow” in school. Nonetheless, Close graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington and earned an MFA with highest honors from Yale University.

In 1988, at the age of 49, Close was at the height of his career as a painter, when he was stricken with a spinal blood clot that left him a partial quadriplegic. The art world was stunned. Close was forced to come to grips with living the rest of his life in a motorized wheelchair with only limited use of his hands and legs. Chuck Close not only found a way to return to painting, he also developed new techniques that catapulted him to an even more prominent place among artists worldwide.

This exhibition puts the spotlight on the decidedly interactive approach Close takes with his prints. While the production of a painting can occupy Close for many months, it is not unusual for one print to take more than two years from conception to final edition. The relationship between Close and the master printers has become key to the creation of his work. Chuck Close Prints constitutes a remarkable self-portrait of the creative drive, vision and intellect of one of America’s most important living artists.

”Chuck Close has triumphed over immense difficulties to carve out a singular place for himself among artists,” said MAM Director Suzanne Delehanty. “This is a monumental exhibition and we’re pleased to present it in South Florida as part of our commitment to bringing the very best in art to our community.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated 160-page catalogue published by Princeton University Press, available at the MAM Store. In connection with the exhibition, MAM has published an exhibition brochure fully detailing the museum’s extensive programming.

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration was organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication have been generously underwritten by the Neuberger Berman Foundation. The exhibition was made possible, in part, by major grants from the Lannan Foundation and Jon and Mary Shirley, and by generous grants from The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation and Houston Endowment Inc. Financial support has also been provided by Jonathan and Marita Fairbanks, Dorene and Frank Herzog, Andrew and Gretchen McFarland, Carey Shuart and The Wortham Foundation, Inc., with additional funds from Karen and Eric Pulaski, Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

In Miami, the exhibition is made possible by Lehman Brothers and Neuberger Berman, a Lehman Brothers Company. Additional support is provided by MAM’s Annual Exhibition Fund.

Annual Exhibition Fund:

Grand Benefactors - Ferrell Schultz, Tina Hills, Joan Reynolds Linclau, Patricia & Emanuel+ Papper, Benefactors BlueCross BlueShield, Northern Trust Bank Donors, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Ella Fontanals Cisneros, Espirito Santo Bank, The Aaron I. Fleischman Foundation, Rose Ellen Meyerhoff Greene, Deborah & Larry Hoffman, Mellon, Nedra & Mark Oren, Podhurst Orseck, P.A., The Scharlin Family Foundation Sponsors Darlene & Jorge M. Perez, Arthur H. Rice Patrons, American Express Company, Christie’s, Mary & Howard Frank, Nancy & Robert Magoon, Toni & Carl Randolph, Raquel & Michael Scheck, Roz & Charles Stuzin, Sally & Earl Weiner, Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation, Inc. – Stephen H. Cypen, President

+ deceased

About the Curator
Peter Boswell has been assistant director for programs and senior curator at MAM since 1999. He is responsible for the growth of MAM’s permanent collection as well as the museum’s exhibitions, educational programs and publications. Mr. Boswell holds a BA in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in Art History from Stanford University. At MAM, Mr. Boswell led the curatorial effort behind the exhibition Miami Currents: Linking Community and Collection (2002) and has organized exhibitions for the museum’s New Work series of the work of Donald Lipski (2002); Teresita Fernández (2002); and Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt (2003).

Related Programs:

Artist Lecture
Saturday May 15, 4 – 5pm
Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables

Chuck Close presents an illustrated lecture in conjunction with his exhibition at MAM. Members free; non-members $10. To reserve a seat please e-mail MAMRSVP@miamidade.gov or call 305.375.1704 by May 10. Tickets available at the door. Reserved seats will be released at 3:45pm the day of the lecture.

JAM at MAM
Happy Hour With an Artful Twist
Every third Thursday.
Live music, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
Members free; non-members $5.
5 – 8:30pm

Thursday June 17
6:00pm Guided tour of Chuck Close Prints
6:30pm Gallery Talk with Marion Hanks,
Visual & Performing Arts Academy,
Coral Reef Sr. High School
7:00pm Live Music

Family Fun:

Second Saturdays Are Free For Families 1 - 4 pm
Free fun, hands-on activities for children and their parents inspired by the exhibition.

Saturday June 12
Fun Fingerprint Portraits
Print a portrait — with your fingers! Enjoy a family tour at 1pm.

Saturday July 10
Pixel Prints
Have fun on a family tour and make a colorful pixel print with pencil eraser dots.
Enjoy live music from 2 to 3pm.

Tours
Guided tours of the exhibition are available every Sunday at 2pm.

Interactive Visitors Gallery
Visitors of all ages are invited to explore the exhibition’s themes through reading, writing and hands-on activities. Also on view during the exhibition is Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress, a 57-minute documentary produced by PBS in 1998.

Gallery Notes
This illustrated take-home brochure provides background information on the exhibition. Available in the galleries free of charge to the public.

Sundays are Free at MAM from 12 to 5pm.
Sponsored by The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald.

Exclusively for MAM Members

Lunch, Look and Listen
Lunchtime Lecture with Chuck Close
Tuesday May 11, 11:45am – 1:30pm
This is an exclusive opportunity for members at the Friends level ($1,000) and above to enjoy an intimate lunch and a private tour of the exhibition with the artist prior to his show opening at MAM. By invitation only.

Opening Reception
Thursday May 13, 6 – 8:30pm
Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live jazz and an opportunity to meet the artist. This event is by invitation only.

Up Close and Graphic
Graphicstudio Printmaking Presentation
Saturday July 24, 11am – noon
This is an exclusive opportunity for Sustaining members ($125) and above to learn about Chuck Close’s collaboration with the University of South Florida’s internationally renowned Graphicstudio workshop in Tampa. By invitation only.

101 West Flagler St.
Miami, FL 33130
305-375-3000

Secure parking is available adjacent to the museum at 50 NW 2nd Ave.

$3 with MAM validation.

Media Contact:
Gabriel Riera
305.375-1706
griera@miamidade.gov

Accredited by the American Association of Art Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners.

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