Artists Editions T-Shirts designed by 13 contemporary artists, included renowned artist Chuck Close, who is a wheelchair user, became available in mid-May, but not being much of a shopper, I just noticed the ads featuring the artists in their T-shirts recently (in The New Yorker).The limited edition shirts available at The Gap celebrated the Whitney 2008 Biennial, the highly anticipated exhibit every two years of contemporary art in the USA. The Biennial closed June 1.
"It puts art onto our backs and sends it out into the street and into the world," said Whitney director Adam Weinberg in USA Today. "The Biennial is known for pushing boundaries, and this project with Gap breaks ground as well."
Close has always intrigued me since I heard a brilliant interview he gave on NPR a number of years ago in which he talked about becoming disabled and continuing his art. I'll never forget his quote, when he was telling the story of the pity he received in rehab from some of the staff who said how sorry they were that he could no longer be an artist due to his disability. His response: "Art comes from the brain."
He's also one of the few famous people with a disability who manages to get good media coverage many times without an undue focus on his disability.
Close told CBS in 2007 that he's much more celebratory in his painting since his disability and he's happy making his art.
"There is no artist alive, working today, who gets more pleasure day in and day out, year in and year out, than I do. Period. None," Close said. "I know there is no man or woman who gets more pleasure than I do."
