Framing: Choosing the Right Frame for a Painting

Many readers find framing a challenge and wonder how to best frame a painting. Here are a few points to keep in mind while choosing the frame. It is important to choose a good quality frame which will not only enhance the look of the painting, but will also provide adequate support to it. These days most paintings come with a frame – when you buy one from an artist or a gallery, but these are generally a simple and a basic wooden frame. Very often, people prefer to change the frame according to their interiors. In fact, in some instances it is better to not frame the painting at all, such as when the canvas is mounted on a 2” or more of stretcher frame, or when the painting continues on the sides of the canvas. Adding a frame to the latter will spoil the beauty of the painted sides.

In case of line drawings or black and white works one can go for a simple black frame which will give it a sleek and elegant finish. A plain or a slightly textured wooden frame will suit drawings and sketches the best. The width of the frame can be chosen according to the size of the artwork.

Art on paper is usually displayed behind glass, and if necessary one can double mount them to make them appear larger. And, now that there is an additional distance between the painting and the frame, a slightly ornate option can also be used. However, do ensure that it does not clash with the colours of the painting, nor overwhelms it. The colour of the mount can be derived from the colours in the painting itself, so that new colors are not introduced in the scheme of things. However, the frame can be natural wood, dark wood or black in colour. It is important to choose a frame that will not dominate the painting, for instance, if you add a heavy embellished frame to a brightly coloured work, it may give it a cluttered look.

Oil paintings, for instance, portraits look elegant with ornate frames, but again care must be taken that the center of attention does not shift from the painting to the frame. It is not advised that oil paintings be mounted with a glass front, but they can be varnished when completely dry.
A frame that is darker in colour than the wall shade helps to delineate the space and creates a greater impact. Wide frames, for instance 4” to 6” in width, can be used to make smaller artworks prominent. These will also make them larger and more suited for bigger wall space.

Finally, always go to a good framer, who has experience in dealing with expensive artworks – the gallery or the artist can point you to one. The quality of the hardware used in framing is equally important, and can, in fact, affect the life span of the painting.

(Updated: Published earlier in Bangalore Mirror)

10 Tips for Buying Art

Very often people are hesitant about buying art for the fist time.  Not only is there a hesitancy in entering a gallery premises but there is an overall sense of awe and apprehension when considering the entire process of buying art.  Clients wonder if it is all right to purchase a single artwork, should they negotiate on the price or is it going to be embarrassing! Then there are questions about where should the buy from and would they be able to resell it when required.  Also, there are doubts regarding how to go about buying art for the sake of starting a collection, should they consider it as a financial investment or should they only consider enhancing aesthetics from an interior decor perspective.

 Research on Art

1. One of the first things to do before buying art is to empower yourself by reading up on art, visiting local art galleries, meeting artists and other people who are actively involved in this field.  Talk to artists, consultants and curators to get insights about the functioning of the art market and to also network with like-minded people. 
2. Find out about current trends, read about exhibitions and reviews, and try to get a sense of the art market, prices and resale options. 
3. Look at images and artworks to get an idea about the kind of art that you prefer.  Are you inclined towards traditional paintings, contemporary art or perhaps experimental art?  It helps to be clear about what you enjoy and what kind of art engages you.
4. Next find out about reputed galleries and dealers.  Visit galleries to see how comfortable you feel while interacting with them.  If you are planning to buy art from an online source, find out about safe and credible sites who deliver authentic works. Check with galleries if there is a buy back clause or if they will help you in reselling at a future date.
5. Get familiar with provenance and authenticity and all the necessary precautions that you must take to ensure you buy an original artwork which is authentic.

Why are you buying?

6. I find that it is also important to establish your reasons for buying art – is it to cover up a vacant wall or floor space, is it a part of your investment portfolio or do you want to start building an art collection?  It helps in deciding the kind of art that you should buy and also in planning a budget for it.
7. It is always a good idea to begin in a small way and put in only a small amount of money in the artwork initially.  You could then see how you feel about the entire process, how the artwork engages you and how confident you feel about investing larger sums in art.  

Budget

8. Perhaps the most important criterion, allocate a budget for art and put in sufficient effort to stay within it.  It is often easy to get carried away and spend much more than you had initially intended.
9. Decide if you are going to spend small sums over a period of time or whether it is going to be a one-time investment for you. 
10. Do make sure that it is only a small percentage of your disposable income and not a portion of your primary investment portfolio.

 

One of the major reasons why it is advised to buy art that you enjoy is that unlike any other asset class, art has a distinct advantage where it can engage you intellectually and emotionally.  It is not just another piece of paper in which you have invested but has the potential to enrich your life and affect the ambiance of your surroundings.

Art in Interiors: Art Installations to Complement Home Decor

An art installation can completely anchor the space and form the core of the entire designing concept, writes art consultant Nalini S Malaviya

Contemporary art is not limited to paintings and sculptures and one can use art installations even in residential spaces to complement architectural highlights. Now, when we see art installations in gallery environs it is often difficult to visualize them as part of home interiors. The materials used in an art installation, its size and the very nature of its site specificity contribute to its innovative allure yet makes it appear a little inaccessible. However, from a decorating point of view, these very factors make it a perfect choice to successfully adapt in home décor. 

 

As compared to a two dimensional artwork, a three dimensional installation allows space transformation at multiple levels and creates several layers of interaction with the viewer. It can be integrated with architectural elements to make it a seamless viewing experience and therefore works best if it is planned for right in the initial stages of design. These can be suspended from the ceiling, fixed horizontally to walls to protrude outwards or placed free standing on the floor to form visual partitions. These also work very well as a focal point of decor, or can even be designed to cleverly conceal functional and utilitarian pieces.

While planning for art installations, it would be important to consider the size and location of the space where you would be placing it. An installation is interlinked with the site of display and once that is final, the choice of medium becomes easier. Stainless steel, fiberglass, glass and light are popular media that can be used in installations with ease and have a spectacular impact. Suspended artworks with light can highlight the architectural feature as well as create visual barriers to demarcate the space. Giant abstract or animal motifs perched on walls or suspended in space not only make the ambience interesting and quirky but also make it unique. Similarly, art installed on terraces and gardens give an unmatched individuality to its environment. Then a multi-media installation or a technology driven artwork can be an interactive piece that can engage the viewer with the artwork. 

The important thing is that an art installation can completely anchor the space and form the core of the entire designing concept.

Published in The Address, Times of India, Bangalore on July 28, 2013

The Bionic Man - Sensing The Extraordinary

Neil Harbisson’s presentation at the TEDxGateway, Mumbai last year is an inspiring tale of possibilities that encompasses passion, creativity and determination. Born with acromatopsia, a condition that caused Harbisson to see the world in black and white and shades of grey, he helped develop a head mounted sensor or eyeborg that picked up colour frequencies and transposed them into sound frequencies. In 2009, the eyeborg was developed into a chip which was implanted into his head and that allowed him to also perceive infrared and ultraviolet colours which are ordinarily outside the range of human perception. It is widely accepted that Harbisson became the world’s first cyborg in 2004 when his passport photograph wearing the eyeborg was officially recognized and accepted.

The bionic implant has allowed Harbisson to pursue his passion and continue a career in contemporary art and music. This article is not limited to Neil Harbisson’s art but also touches upon the incredible transformations that are possible when science and technology are applied to enhance and assist human life experiences and to impart dignity in living.

Art

Harbisson’s early works employ a black and white and grey palette, however his later works, not surprisingly, explore the relationship between colour and sound and our response to colour. His artworks have been exhibited during the 54th Venice Biennale, at London and Barcelona and other cities. He creates sound portraits of people by listening to the colours of faces, a fascinating concept where he listens to the different micro tone chords depending on the colours. His eyeborg picks up the different notes from the different parts of the face which he writes down on a special 360 lined manuscript paper. He has created sound portraits of Prince Charles, Leonardo DiCaprio and Woody Allen amongst others.

Harbisson created a series of paintings ‘City Colours’ by scanning capitals of various countries and representing them through two main hues. He also created a series of paintings titled ‘Colour Scores’ by transforming the first hundred notes of well-known musical pieces into colour.

I feel Harbisson’s art offers a unique perspective on abstract concepts that are precisely translated into paintings - where geometric patterns of colours follow a determinate code and progression. It is fascinating to note that Harbisson perceives the human skin not as black or white but as varying shades of orange, what an astounding discovery that must be such a blow to racists!

Social Relevance

Harbisson’s contribution in the field of cybernetics is also of great humanitarian value as it can be directly applied in medical therapy. His foundation provides an open source platform for development of software to assist people in creating individualized solutions which is a crucial step in empowering the user. The foundation is also working on creating a device that can aid the visually impaired and eliminate the need to use Braille. 
The scope of cybernetics in medicine has tremendous possibilities to aid and to restore vision, limbs and perhaps the most important of all dignity of existence. For those who have impaired faculties, it is not just the trauma of day to day living, but also the stress of having to deal with being ‘different’. A recent episode where an amputee was made to remove her artificial leg at the Mumbai Airport was widely reported in the media, but one cannot even begin to imagine the distress caused to the person in question. Harbisson takes pride in being a cyborg and it helps to reiterate the normalcy in being ‘different’ and his work is critical to sensitizing society to the differently abled.

The future is now

I am a great proponent of technology and a few years ago turned to a speech recognition tool after a minor injury and now use it for all my writing! ‘A Brief History of Time’ and other scientific contributions by Stephen Hawking may not have taken place had there been no technological intervention to assist the wheelchair bound theoretical physicist. Cybernetics has revolutionized life and health of human beings whether it is pacemakers, artificial limbs or bionic implants; it has the capacity to alter lives and sensory experiences and to allow people to pursue their passions and inculcate normalcy in their lives.

What makes an idea great is the intention behind it and an appreciation of its magic that has the power to sustain life or to eradicate it!

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.
Watch the video here

Metro Art – A Venue For Public Art

As the much awaited Bangalore metro gets ready to be unveiled, there is a sense of anticipation and expectation in the air.  The elevated metro network with its multiple stations has transformed the topography of a major part of the city with the presence of gigantic concrete pillars and tracks.  The metro in Bangalore with its vast network should stand for much more than connectivity and aim to become a symbol of cultural and geographical significance.  After all, a metro station need not be a plain and bare space overlaid with metal and concrete, but can easily be an inspiring and imaginative space brimming with creativity.  A source of pride for the residents and a feast for the eyes for the daily commuters!

The metro stations can provide a wonderful forum for public art and function as a repository of artworks. The days of ill illuminated and uninspiring station are passé and now some of the finest art museums are located and displayed at some of the most innovative metro stations in the world. The Stockholm metro station is considered to be amongst the ‘world's largest and most impressive museums’ which contains sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, inscriptions and reliefs from 1950s onwards and done by more than a hundred artists.  In fact, Stockholm's ‘tunnelbana’ is referred to as the world's longest art gallery because works of art have been integrated in almost every station.  Some of the other Metros with significant public art and architecture in the stations are Brussels, Montreal, Stockholm, Athens, Prague and Moscow. 

The Bangalore metro too has the potential to combine art and architecture and create a platform to showcase Indian contemporary art before the world.  As the metro will be used by local citizens as well as tourists it therefore provides the perfect opportunity to create a stunning display which can set a benchmark.  A different design for each station also works well with commuters as each station then has its own identity and unique character.

In terms of artworks, there are immense possibilities, for instance in Paris there are stations which display copies of masterpieces from the Louvre, giant murals and sculptures form part of the artworks at Santiago's metro, while in Athens there are archaeological exhibits at several of the metro stations.  An elevated art installation with flying figures at one of the stations in Brussels has a stunning impact.  In Dubai, the metro stations see a combination of heritage and modern designs which are inspired from elements of nature as well as Islamic influences.

Similarly, the Bangalore metro has the potential to create a world class ambience and stunning interiors by adding artworks in a cohesive and integrated manner which highlights the cultural significance of the region in an international style. Life sized sculptures, folk and tribal art, contemporary paintings, murals and large installations are just a few artworks which can be used innovatively to clearly state that Bangalore is much more than an IT capital: it is also an important arts and culture destination.

The design possibilities are endless and the stations could follow a futuristic, minimalist or a traditional style which becomes a unified entity through its architecture and art.  Each station could adopt an exclusive design style which can then influence the rest of the decor scheme accordingly. It is important here to have a systematic approach to ensure that there is no haphazard display of art and an integrated harmonious look is created. There is enormous talent in the city and the region and one can create a metro with a distinct identity which the city can be proud of.

The writer is an art consultant


(Published in Nov, 2011 in Times of India, Bangalore)