Openings Connecting: ART PRIZE

Saturday, November 21, 2009

ART PRIZE | Ran Ortner

Causey Contemporary | Ran Ortner The art journey continued a week ago. Visited more galleries, and then the winner of the ART PRIZE ($250,000) in Grand Rapids, just an hour north of us.
I never cared much about seascapes...you know, the horizon with waves breaking on shore and the light shining through part of one of the waves.
but this was different. 3 panels, huge, focused and detailed.
a surprise. chosen by the voting of general public.
and the painting sold.

the causey contempory link above for more of the surf!

8 comments:

ArtPropelledNovember 22, 2009 at 1:02 AM
This one is certainly different! Stunning, in fact. Wow!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Caterina GiglioNovember 22, 2009 at 6:19 AM
WOW! WOW! WOW! Just takes my breath away!
had any snow yet? snow #4 is on it's way to us! happy turkey day!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownNovember 22, 2009 at 6:43 AM
Wow is right. Wonderful! I would loved to have seen this in person. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDelete
Replies
BeaNovember 22, 2009 at 7:07 AM
I love to sit and listen to the sound of the waves. I love to watch the waves but I have no desire to be in that wave. Just beautiful. :)Bea
ReplyDelete
Replies
Blue Sky DreamingNovember 22, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Quite amazing! The perspective, color and volume make it spectacular!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Joie MoringNovember 22, 2009 at 9:54 PM
just popped over from artinredwagons blog...and can feel the waves washing over me...no wonder the art viewing public voted this as a favorite. Just amazing. Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDelete
Replies
nancy neva gaglianoNovember 23, 2009 at 5:55 AM
well, the surprise in the vote was that there were MANY "wow" factor pieces, like a wooden sculpture in the river like the lochness monster, or someone painting with an easel on top of a structure for days, etc.......but the classic won out.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Lucky Dip LisaNovember 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Wow! What a painting! Absolute talent and worthy of the prize in my book!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

FOUR DIRECTIONS/FOUR VISIONS: Two Graces: First showing for me, JUNE 3, 2011

With no directions home, I found Taos in the late 60s. It felt like home immediately. It still does. I know this sentiment is familiar to countless others.

The mountain stopped me in my tracks, and I stayed for several years. Since that time, I circle back annually.

To me, that circle is symbolic of this body of work at Two Graces. This is a time in my life when I've been fortunate enough to experiment with art making. Not surprisingly, I found myself drawn back to the images in the Ektachrome slides that I'd taken in the early 80s of Chaco Canyon, the San Francisco de Asis Church, dusty roads, and the ever changing skies of Northern New Mexico. The spirit of this adobed land lingers in my core and manifests itself within these works.

This past Michigan winter was spent creating enlarged negatives from my thirty year old slides, pulling part of my past into the present via today's tools of scanner and computer. Using traditional silver-gelatin darkroom processes, these resurrected and modified negatives acquired a new life. The majority of these prints are the result of this mediated reincarnation.

The smaller images took me into photographic processes from the mid-1800s. These handmade platinum/palladium prints are created coating vellum, for translucency, with these metal salts and exposing them to ultraviolet light. They are then bathed in the alchemy of the darkroom. The tonal qualities are unique in each print. Finally, 24k gold is layered to the backs of the prints, emanating the warmth, glow, and depth of these beloved places.