Brooklyn, NY July 2010. This September Causey Contemporary will present Deep Water, an exhibition of monumental paintings by Ran Ortner. The paintings measure six feet by twenty-four feet. Each of them, having no horizon or land, immerses the viewer in the pure power of water. A public receptio... Read more
Brooklyn, NY July 2010. This September Causey Contemporary will present Deep Water, an exhibition of monumental paintings by Ran Ortner. The paintings measure six feet by twenty-four feet. Each of them, having no horizon or land, immerses the viewer in the pure power of water. A public reception with Ran will be held on Thursday, September 16th from 6 – 9 p.m. The exhibition will run from August 30 – October 11, 2010 during normal gallery hours: Wednesday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sundays 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. and Mondays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Ran Ortner’s painting, Open Water no. 24, won ArtPrize 2009. ArtPrize is the most lucrative art competition in the world. As reported by the New York Times, the competition took place at 159 venues with more than 1200 artists participating. More than 334,000 votes were cast in the first ever competition placing Ran’s painting number one. After its debut at the Art Prize event, Open Water No. 24 was acquired by Richard and Elizabeth DeVos and loaned to the Grand Rapids Art Museum where it has been on exhibition for the past year. Deep Water at Causey Contemporary will be the first opportunity to experience his new works.
Judy Kim, former curator of exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, now Director of Affiliates at the Guggenheim Foundation when referring to the power of Ran’s work says:
Because these realistic images of waves are just that with no reference points-no swimmers, no boats or ships, no lighthouses or shores-you feel lost in the painting. And, perhaps because we all have subconscious memories of being in the water, the body recalls the sensations and remembers the rhythm of the water, the pull of the tide….The painting pulls you in but you are not sure where it will lead you. Rather than a serene or relaxing image one may expect from a painting of oceans or, more specifically, waves, Ortner’s paintings literally knock your breath away -as if you may be drowning. The waves are about to crash, and you are standing in the middle of it, wholly unprepared. It forces you to relax and accept the ride – or not.
In 1966, at the age of five, Ran Ortner moved from San Francisco to rural Alaska. He and his family lived in an isolated log cabin, with no running water, a wood fire for heat and a grass airstrip for a driveway. To escape the brutal winters, Ran and his family would take their single engine Cessna, “Ragwing” on three to four month adventures from Alaska to South America. On these expeditions, Ran would turn to the open expanse of the
sea to escape the confines of his unconventional childhood. When Ran was eighteen, he left home and began surfing the waves off the coast of California and Mexico. While surfing, he was able to consider both the wondrous and perilous conditions of life. Overwhelmed by what he saw and felt, he turned to art as a form of exploration. Ran has lived and worked in New York City since 1990 – he continues to surf.
