Chuck Close (2007, 116 minutes), an astounding portrait of one of the world’s leading contemporary painters, was one of two parting gifts from Marion Cajori, a filmmaker who died recently, before her time. (Her second is a film on Louise Bourgeois.)

With editing completed by filmmaker Ken Kobland, Chuck Close limns the life and work of a man who has reinvented portraiture. Close photographs his subjects, blows up the image to gigantic proportions, divides it into a detailed grid and then uses a complex set of colors and patterning to reconstruct each face. The genius of this film is not only to allow the artist to illuminate his methodology (he is wonderfully articulate), but also to feature his friends and colleagues (Brice Marden, Robert Storr, Dorothea Rockburne, Philip Glass, Arne Glimcher, Kiki Smith, Elizabeth Murray, Alex Katz, Kirk Varnedoe, among others) who make important contributions to appreciating Close’s gifts.

Admission: $4 adults, $3 seniors, $2 students; BMAC members, children 6 and under free.