What Happened to the Winner of ArtPrize 2009?
Nicole Caruth is a freelance writer and curator living in New York and frequent contributor to the Art21 blog. ArtPrize hired Nicole to chronicle the 2009 event. Nicole’s thoughts and opinions are her own and in no way represent an endorsement or objection from ArtPrize toward an individual artist or venue.
When I last contributed to this blog, the ten finalists of the first ArtPrize competition had just been announced. I left Grand Rapids almost certain that a painting could never speak to voting crowds as loudly as the table on chairs on the Blue Bridge or a seven-foot moose made out of nails. But here I find myself six months later looking at painted ocean waves in the studio of grand prize winner, and fellow Brooklyn resident, Ran Ortner. His three-panel painting, Open Water No. 24, now has a temporary home at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, where attendance has reportedly risen fifty percent since the piece went on view. Crowds to hear Ortner speak there in January were double normal capacity, too. It seems that Ortner has become something of a celebrity in Grand Rapids and beyond. While stardom and a whopping $250,000 of course have their benefits, it is clear that Ortner’s artwork is still what drives him. In New York, where art stars seem to pop up and disappear over night, losing their way in the limelight, Ortner’s unwavering thirty-year devotion to painting is as refreshing as the ocean itself. Below, the artist discusses the impact of ArtPrize on his life and work and why, after all these years and his latest success, he still thinks of himself as an “emerging” artist.
Ran Ortner and assistant in studio. Photo courtesy of Ran Ortner.
Nicole J. Caruth: So, enquiring minds want to know, how has the ArtPrize award impacted your life?
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