My paintings are about being immersed in this present. For that reason, the horizon and any other reference points are disappeared, a move that detaches my work from the tradition of marine paintings, from Caspar David Friedrich, Turner, the Hudson River. Now we are not a distant observer, but all in.
It’s almost impossible to not be fooled by this illusion and, no matter how many times you try to see a 2D surface, you will only ever see the ocean. The American artist Ran Ortner creates impressive photo-realistic paintings of the sea. Using oil paint, he plays with great ease on the lights, the focal length and the details of huge waves, making the result very realistic.
Ortner transferred is dynamism from being a professional motorcycle racer into his approach to painting. He studied Art in Canada and the UK. His conceptual sculptures and his paintings have been exhibited in the US, in Europe and in 2008 to 2009 his work was in the traveling exhibition “Falling Short Of Knowing” which opened in New York and traveled to Singapore.
His painting “Open Water No.24” won the Art Prize in 2009. After this his work gained massive attention and a selected piece was even chosen by the United Nations for World Water Day.
