Chuck Close was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal last week just before a science panel in New York called “Portraits of Perception: The Human Face.” Michelle Kung of the WSJ’s Speakeasy blog asked him a range of questions but one was about the effects of the art market’s contraction:

[I]t’s been estimated that half of the galleries in Chelsea will close, and after the venues are removed, today’s young and emerging artists will have half as many oppotunities to get their work out. I think it’s really going to be hard at first, but it will also spawn alternative spaces — people showing in apartments and vacant storefronts. It’ll be different for awhile.

Chuck Close Gets Perceptional (WSJ/Speakeasy)