FOUR MORE WOMEN ALLEGE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY CHUCK CLOSE

In the wake of recent sexual harassment allegations against Close, four additional women have shared the stories of their encounters with the artist — including one who says he touched her.

Claire VoonJillian Steinhauer

Chuck Close, “Subway Portraits” (2017), glass and ceramic mosaic, ceramic tile, at the Second Avenue–86th Street station (photo by Allison Meier/Hyperallergic)

In late December 2017, 

allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against Chuck Close, one of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. Four women, speaking with the Huffington Post and the New York Times, claimed that Close invited them to his studio and unexpectedly asked them to model nude for him, using explicit language in the process. The women said the encounters left them feeling uncomfortable, manipulated, and exploited.

In the wake of those news reports, four more women have now come forward to describe their encounters with Close. Their stories bear striking similarities to the accounts published thus far, but also include new details: One woman says Close touched her and asked her to “play with” herself; two women connected with Close through internships at art organizations with which he has long-standing professional relationships. The earliest account here dates to 2001, the earliest one reported yet.

After the initial revelations, Close acknowledged that he invited women “to audition” for his photographs. In a statement to Hyperallergic, he commented:

“I have been photographing and painting both portraits and nudes since 1967, and posing for me is completely voluntary. During the past 50 years I have created hundreds of nude photographs of men and women, and have met with many more who had decided not to pose for me. I have never received any complaints prior to reading about them in recent news reports. Having learned that I made these women upset and feel uncomfortable, I do apologize, without qualification.

“My extensive work in nude portraiture is part of a long tradition in the history of art,” Close added. “I have talked with the people who have posed about all kinds of things, including their bodies — both women and men, young and old, healthy and infirm. That’s all part of the process.

“As I have stated before, I vigorously support the fight against sexual misconduct and harassment, and the greater impact it will have on changing the culture.”

Close has said that the auditions were conducted for “artistic reasons,” in the words of the New York Times. But the accounts given to Hyperallergic suggest a pattern of him taking advantage of women in their 20s and 30s who expressed admiration for his work. None of the women felt physically threatened by Close — the artist suffered an arterial collapse in 1988 and is largely paralyzed from the neck down. All, however, described being overcome by his prestige, which they said made them feel pressured to expose themselves for reasons they struggled to justify. Together, the stories illustrate how an artist’s status can hold so much weight that others feel trapped by it.

None of these women are aware of each other’s experiences, and nearly all were stunned to realize how strongly the accounts published in the news resonated with their own stories……….

https://hyperallergic.com/420538/four-more-women-allege-sexual-misconduct-by-chuck-close/