CHUCK CLOSE (b. 1940)
Chuck Close, was born in Monroe, Wisconsin has been a leading figure in contemporary art since the early 1970s.  Best known for his monumental portraits painted in thousands of tiny airbrush bursts, thumbprints, or looping multi-color brushstrokes, Close has developed a formal analysis and methodological reconfiguration of the human face that has radically changed the definition of modern portraiture.
In 1988, Close suffered a spinal injury, which left him paralyzed from the neck down.  The artist remains confined to a wheel chair since the injury but has painted with a paintbrush strapped to his arm or hand. His style has remained the largely the same, although his portraits have become more pixilated than before. Chuck Close currently lives and works in New York.