Chuck Close, “Self-Portrait/Color” (2007) [Note: This work is not in “Rebus.”]

“Chuck Close is one of my favorite artists. He was completely surrounded by Minimalism and Postminimalism, yet he was faithful to his art, which at the time people thought was just representation; they ran away from it. Chuck uses something that’s very familiar — a face — and I do the same, except I’m using pieces from art history that are very well-known, or archetypes, things that people recognize easily — a coat hanger or a light bulb. The idea is to make people transcend the subject and go into process. It’s too bad I couldn’t find a place to put a Chuck Close in this show.”

© Chuck Close, courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York