The contemporary artist talks about where he was when Martin Luther King, Jr. died and meeting Malcolm X.

Chuck Close: There are two events in my lifetime that are markers in that respect.

I was in my loft on the southern end of Green Street when Martin Luther Kind was assassinated. This was ’68, and the SoHo was not SoHo yet. Which is rags and rats and there were no streetlights and there were only like 20 people who lived between Canal Street and Houston Street. So my wife was in a loft at the other end of the Green and Houston.

So, I left my loft at Canal Street and I started walking towards Houston. As I was walking the street, it was very dark, there were almost no lights, I saw a man approach me, a big man, and he was sort of lumbering along and walking quite fast. All of a sudden he came into a street light and I saw the man look at me – a black man – and I saw him look at me and it was the first time that I ever felt that a black man hated me just because I was white. I didn’t think that with Martin Luther King dying, but I was being held responsible, and I absolutely understand that.

And that was a seachange in America. I just find it so moving that from ’68 until now, in my lifetime, I was able to see this change, and to see America embrace the black man. It’s very moving.

Chuck Close: I was at Yale, in graduate school, and Malcolm X was standing in a corner handing a leaflets and he was easy to recognize because he had red hair. The only black man with red hair you’ve ever seen. And it was not dyed; it was actually red. I went up to him and I – white liberal boy, I said what can I do? And he said, “Get out of the way.” So, I thought, well.

Recorded on: February 5, 2009