I was surprised to learn recently that Chuck Close suffers from prosopagnosia (otherwise known as face blindness) and has difficulty recognizing or remembering faces. Yet, ironically, his iconic in-your-face (pardon the pun) face paintings have been his claim to fame for 40 years.

When Close first burst onto the art scene in the late ’60s with billboard-sized black-and-white portraits, he redefined what portraiture could be. His most recent work, painterly "prismatic grids," offers us yet another take on the genre.

In the book Chuck Close: Work, Christopher Finch brings all of Close's paintings together, as well as a selection of the artist's prints and personal photographs. The images lose something in scale, of course, but in terms of sheer volume (more than 300 illustrations) and insight into the artist's work and personality, the collection is awesome. I ordered my copy on Amazon.com.

Close is also the inspiration for a new ballet, C to C (Close to Chuck), which made its world premiere on October 27 at the American Ballet Theatre in New York. The ballet includes music composed by friend and frequent subject Philip Glass and backdrops designed by Close.

NPR recently rebroadcast an interview with Close on its Fresh Air program. Take a listen here.