Fruit Loop Chuck Close

For the last few weeks I have been working on the “Fruit Loop Chuck Close” project. Not much more to say about it than that, I am sure everyone can tell just by the title what it will look like when its done. The four canvases I stretched plus all the Fruit Loops I have talked about sorting in earlier posts have been for this project.

“Fruit Loop Chuck Close” will be 10 feet x 8 feet when complete, on four canvases each 5’ x 4’. It will be entirely Fruit Loop brand breakfast cereal on canvas. As of today, I hope to have the first canvas complete.

The idea arrived one morning in October when my wife showed me the back of a box of Fruit Loops, which had a “build your own Fruit Loop sculpture” ad. There, Tucan Sam was showing how you could glue Fruit Loops together to make a horse or dog. I am not sure why, but as soon as I saw it, I wanted to make a Chuck Close.

Of the people I have told about this project, many have asked me if I am honoring Chuck Close with this portrait or if I am slighting him. The answer is both. While it is true I am comparing his work and his style to “Fruit Loop Art”, I am also spending several months in a urethane-fumed studio individually placing thousands and thousands of Fruit Loops to make a portrait of this artist. If I did not respect his work and his career I would not go to such lengths to make fun of it.

I was hoping to have this project completed by now; however, placing the Fruit Loops has become much more time consuming than I had expected. In six hours, I can place roughly 400 Fruit Loops, but each canvas holds thousands. I would like to say that the project will be complete in February, but March may be more likely.

This will be the final piece before my next photo shoot and my next website update. I am going to hold back “Noel as Zeus” until the photo shoot after this one, which will most likely be in another year. The newest pieces added will be “Fruit Loop Chuck Close”, “Portrait of Mary Boone as Marilyn Monroe”, the suit piece which is still untitled (working title is “Deaf”), and a selected few of my drawings. “Portrait of my Bicycle” will also be edited to show the changes in the original Play-Doh bicycle and the creation of the new Play-Doh bicycle. For more information on these projects please read my earlier posts.

I will keep updated as to my progress with “Fruit Loop Chuck Close”. It looks different everyday as more is added.

January 2006

It has been almost a month wince my last posting. For those of you who keep up with Crateart creations, I am sorry for such a long delay in the blog. Let me just say that, while December is a hard month to find freelance gallery work, January is not. I have worked more this month than any other month, trying to make up for the holiday season. This does not mean I have given little time to my studio. I have been in the studio almost every day, as you will soon see. I do not have anything to show you now but my work schedule slows down starting next week, and I promise some good serious blogging then. I have a new project, which is nearing the point where it can be viewed, that is going to take 14,000 hand placed Fruit Loops. You will love it. Pictures coming soon. Keep watching.