by April Helms

Special Products Editor

Of all the artwork in the permanent collection in the Akron Art Museum, "Linda," the realistic 9-foot-tall portrait painting of Linda Rosenkrantz, is probably the first piece that comes to the minds of gallery patrons.

"'Linda' really is probably the most loved art here," said Barbara Tannenbaum, director of curatorial affairs.

When the art museum was undergoing its expansion and renovation, "Linda" was loaned out in a touring retrospective on "Linda" artist Chuck Close's works. People would come in to inquire about her, Tannenbaum said.

"When she went on the prospective, people would come in and ask 'where is Linda?'" Tannenbaum said. "They think of her as a real person."

"Linda," of course, is now back, and through Jan. 3, 2010, will be joined by friends. The Akron Art Museum currently has 37 works by Close on exhibit.

Click here to see a short video of the display.

Familiar Faces: Chuck Close in Ohio Collections opened Sept. 5 and offers visitors a singular opportunity to see Linda in the context of Close's other portraits, including paintings, handmade paper pulp pieces, photographs, a tapestry and various types of prints. Many are well over life-sized, but there are also more intimately scaled prints and studies. The images range from colorful, abstracted visages to black and white, realistic self-portraits.

"This is the first time these works have been brought together from Ohio museums and private collections," Tannenbaum said.

Various pieces were loaned from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, Wexner Center for the Arts, Wright State University Galleries, Cincinnati Art Museum and private collections around the state.

Few artists have experimented with as many different media, Tannenbaum said. The works Close painted with an airbrush are mysterious and reveal little evidence of the artist's hand or process.

By contrast, some of his other paintings and prints, when seen close up, seem to be all about gesture and mark-making. Appearing "pixilated," they are grids filled with tiny abstract-colored shapes, individual brushstrokes or even the artist's fingerprints. When viewed from a distance, the individual marks miraculously resolve into a surprisingly realistic face.

"What you seen when you are up close are the paint strokes," Tannenbaum said. "But when you pull back, you see the face. That's the genius of it. He is such a master of light and depth and shadow."

Another interesting feature of the exhibit is that Close has several portraits done of the same people, but created at different times, Tannenbaum said. A survey of his work demonstrates not just how his own aesthetic has developed, but also how his subjects' faces and demeanors have been altered by time and circumstance.

The earliest work in the exhibition dates from 1970; the most recent was completed just last year. In Familiar Faces, the painter Alex Katz is seen in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996, depicted in Polaroid photography, woodcut, reduction screenprint and computer generated printing.

Museum Information

The Akron Art Museum is at One South High St. in downtown Akron. For details, call 330-376-9185 or visit www.AkronArtMuseum.org online.

Gallery and store hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Adult general admission is $7 and student and senior (65 and older) general admission is $5. Children 12 and under and members are free. On the first Sunday of every month, individual admissions to the collection are free. Special exhibitions may require paid admission. No tours available on these days.

E-mail: ahelms@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153