EVERETT — It’s an art show one might expect to see in Seattle, if not Los Angeles, New York or Paris. Instead, look for it at the Schack Art Center.
The internationally famous massive-scale-portrait painter Chuck Close is coming home to Everett.
His artwork — 90 huge prints and working proofs — will precede him, and the exhibition “Chuck Close: Prints, Process, and Collaboration” opens May 12 at the Schack in Everett.
The show takes a look at the world-renowned artist’s groundbreaking innovations in a broad spectrum of printmaking mediums.
The Schack’s Close exhibit has been years in the making, including a visit by Schack Art Center director Judy Tuohy to Close’s Long Island home in 2014 and culminating this past week with the painting of the gallery walls by Schack preparator Josey Wise.
Fourteen gallons of mascarpone-colored paint — a special formula called “Schackcarpone” — from Hatloe’s Everett home improvement store now cover the walls.
“It was surreal as I was painting; I kept thinking these walls will soon hold fantastic pieces by Chuck Close,” Wise said. “And right here in Everett. To many of us, the Schack is our second home. So the exhibit will be like having a big museum show with a world-class artist, like one you might see at the Museum of Modern Art, right here in our living room.”
The exhibition is expected to bring thousands of people to Everett during the next four months. Sponsors of the exhibit include the city of Everett, Snohomish County, Boeing, Klein Honda and the Shirley Foundation. Security staff are already guarding the art, Tuohy said, and will be on the job until after the show closes Sept. 5.
Chuck Close plans to visit the exhibit and see friends and relatives in the area, but no public events with the artist are scheduled, said Tuohy.
This touring print show, previously displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others around the world, is making a West Coast appearance for only the second time when it is hung this weekend at the 6,500-square-foot Schack.
Close agreed to the Schack exhibit in part because of the art center’s accessibility to children, teens and adults, Tuohy said.
Born in Monroe, Close, 75, has lived most of his life in New York. He grew up in Snohomish County, graduated in 1960 from Everett Community College, where he was encouraged by the legendary art teacher Russell Day. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington and his master of fine arts from Yale University.
Close is perhaps best known as a painter and photographer who achieved international renown with his huge portraits that incorporate grids and intricate patterns to form realistic paintings. He has been represented by the Pace Gallery in New York since 1977.
Though a catastrophic spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him with some severe paralysis, he continues to paint and produce work that is sought after by museums and collectors around the world.
A note sent to Tuohy this past year says much about what the Schack show means to Close:
“This is the first time I have had a major exhibition of my work in Snohomish County or Everett,” Close wrote. “I feel honored, and it’s great for people who knew me when to see what I am doing now. It is particularly gratifying to know that my work will be shown where I grew up.”
Starting with the large-scale mezzotint print titled “Keith” (1972), which was Close’s first master print as a professional artist, and ending with more recent, monumental watercolor digital prints such as “Lorna” (2012), the exhibit shows the artist’s range of invention in etching, aquatint, lithography, handmade paper, silkscreen, traditional Japanese woodcut and reduction linocut.
The show is organized by Terrie Sultan, director of the Parrish Art Museum in New York.
Because of Sultan’s curation, visitors will have the opportunity to visualize Close’s creative and technical processes through the display of progressive proofs, woodcut blocks and etching plates that illustrate the steps involved in making a print, Tuohy said.
It’s an exciting time at the Schack.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
If you go
Chuck Close: Prints, Process and Collaboration, May 12 through Sept. 5, the Schack Art Center, 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett.
Curator Terrie Sultan’s preview lecture on May 10 is sold out, but call 425-259-5050 to see if anyone has turned in tickets.
While admission to the Schack is usually free, the cost of bringing the Close touring exhibit to Everett has necessitated a fee through Sept. 5: General admission is $10; Schack members, seniors, military and youth pay $5; children are free. Check the Schack website www.schack.org to find out about free-admission Mondays. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, Memorial Day and Labor Day. Closed Independence Day. Extended hours to 8 p.m. on May 19, June 16, July 21 and Aug. 18.
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