I have just been introduced to the work of New York artist, Ran Ortner --- immensely powerful paintings. . .
from the article 'Water Water Everywhere' by Ariane Conrad -
"Ran Ortner's work consists of paintings of the ocean on canvases that are as much as eight feet tall and thrty-two feet wide. They show no land, sky, boats, figures, or other reference points, merely what Herman Melville calls 'this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.' Viewers commonly experience strong emotions standing before his canvases. Some feel as though the paintings are not about the ocean at all, but are instead tapestries of our human condition. . . "
Ran Ortner writes, "You do not mess with the ocean. It will pummel you and chew you up. It is devastatingly brutal and yet it can be luminous and delicate and tender. We clean our wounds here. . . "
