I love the presentation of a piece that is gallery wrapped. Wraps may not be the proper scenario in many cases but…for taking things on the road for street fairs and other venues like that, I think they are great.

Some of the great  things about gallery wraps for me as an artist are;

1-They save me money when I am putting together a show. High quality framing is expensive.

2-They save me time, time in production, packing and unpacking.

3-I can easily protect my paintings. Custom made boxes are very inexpensive and I dont have to worry about glass.

4-A nicely wrapped canvas presents a “neutral” piece and keeps the focus on my work.

Obviously there are some challenges as well. I can hear the moans, groans and gnashing of teeth. You really have to cater your presentation to the location and the show. I am not thinking that a show made up of 50,000 dollar pieces, and hosted in an Antebellum home would be the proper place for a gallery wrap. On the other hand a high end show in a contemporary home a gallery wrap will work great.

Another thing to point out is that you don’t have the opportunity to make a back-end sell on a nice frame. If you have developed or want to develop a nice back-end income framing is one way to do it. I personally work with a professional framer for my clients. I know I leave some money on the table doing that but…I don’t like to frame, I would rather paint.

So for my work, most of the time a gallery wrap is good for an initial presentation. Even if you don’t want to use wraps for your large upper end pieces you might consider using them for smaller less expensive pieces or even for a print series.

So if you are interested in a very cool inexpensive way to wrap your images, check out Hahnemuhle Fine Art. They have been a favorite of mine for the high-end paper for some time. This new system for putting together canvas wraps is awesome.

Here is a video from Hahnemuhle’s PR office. This original video didn’t have sound. Kari from PR informed me a new video will be out in September.

You can get this wrap system from your local art supplie shop or you can contact Hahnemuhle Fine Art directly for the nearest vendor.