Self-Portrait No. 1

1993–1995

The Venice Biennale and the Carnegie International

He takes part in the Venice Biennale (1993, 1995 and 2003) and the Carnegie International (1995), among almost 800 group exhibitions in all.

1995

Meets Grant Romer: the road to the daguerreotype

Curator Colin Westerbeck uses a grant from the Lannan Foundation to bring Close together with Grant Romer, director of conservation at the George Eastman House; from then on Close explores difficult photographic processes such as the daguerreotype, in collaboration with Jerry Spagnoli, and sophisticated modular, cell-based forms such as tapestry.

1997

Cancels the show at the Metropolitan Museum

Close abruptly cancels a major show of his work scheduled for 1997 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art then announces that it will present a major midcareer retrospective.

1998

A retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art presents a major midcareer retrospective curated by Kirk Varnedoe, which travels in 1999 to the Hayward Gallery in London and other venues.

1998

Documentary films about Close

PBS broadcasts Marion Cajori’s Emmy-nominated short Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress; another documentary, Chuck Close: Eye To Eye, is made the same year by his Yale classmate Paul Tschinkel. In 2007 Cajori expands her film into a full-length one.