The acclaimed and imaginative photo-montage artist Cold War Steve has made his recent work available to anyone who wants to put on his new art exhibition.
- High resolution artwork can be freely downloaded by anyone who wants to print it and display it in their own space, whether that be an established gallery, a bar, village hall or meeting room.
- This article offers some ideas and guidance for displaying printed artwork, especially for short-term exhibitions.
The Art Exhibition
The exhibition You, Me and Cold War Steve is planned to run from 1
st April 2020 in as many locations as possible. Want to get involved? Download the artwork
here.
We plan to run a ‘virtual exhibition’ on this website with the artwork sprinkled around our web pages for visitors to explore and discover. The illustrations in this article depict a preview of some of the CWS exhibits.
You can adapt the ‘how to’ information in this article to any art or photographic exhibition. We touch on the classic approach, but focus mainly on alternative ways to display prints. These solutions are especially relevant when artwork will only be displayed on a short-term basis. Or when the budget is tight.
- Please note that we supply display hardware and poster frames, but we do not offer a printing service or installation service.
Ways to display artwork
Fine art prints and permanent artwork may warrant the extra cost of printing on archival quality fine art papers using colour-calibrated digital presses (often called Giclée prints). You may specify mounting with acid free surrounds and shielding with UV protective glass. You may order a bespoke frame crafted by a traditional picture framer. (Giclée prints ready for permanent framing can be purchased from coldwarsteve.com. His jigsaws also look cool!).
However, for a one-month photographic or art exhibition of a topical nature there are more cost-effective artwork display solutions. For example an economical type of changeable poster frame called a snap frame lets you insert regular paper prints behind a semi-rigid front cover. You can easily swap the artwork without taking the frame off the wall. For print sizes larger than your desktop printer you will need access to a large format printer. Copy shops and local printers frequently offer this facility. We include some guidance below about what to ask for.
A-boards – with a special offer
Snap frames are often fitted to each side of pavement signs. These are ideal for you to publicise any art exhibition as they are economical and versatile. Typically A2 is a good poster size if your space is limited or choose a larger A1 A-board for more impact.
Snap frame A-boards come in black or silver to suit your own design of poster (in portrait format). They fold away for convenient storage.
To support the CWS 2020 Exhibition we are offering free UK delivery on any order including a snap frame A-board until 1st April 2020.
(Or for orders over £80 ex VAT - which are already eligible for free delivery - a discount equivalent to the £7.90 + VAT delivery charge).
To get your discount simply enter the Coupon Code CILLA in the checkout. (Make sure your order includes a Snap frame A-board to qualify).
Printing and mounting options
Artwork can be printed on paper and optionally it can be over-laminated or mounted onto a backing such as light-weight display board. The best choice will depend on how you plan to display the artwork: e.g. wall mounted (with or without a frame), hanging from the ceiling or standing on the floor.
We recommend your choice of display method should define your printing specification. So consider that first. For example, do not spend money mounting onto foam-board if you plan to use snap frames, as they only work with paper-thickness prints. Also consider the aspect ratio of the artwork you want to print – does it correspond to standard A-series sizes? Do you wish to add a white border to fit in a standard size frame, or prefer a free-form display method which copes with any width and height? (See our
Help with Paper Sizes guide).
Then decide on the finished size of prints based on the available space and the way you plan to display them. To get you started, we’ll run through the main display options.
Hanging artwork from the ceiling
Suspending artwork can be a great solution in certain spaces. The two main options both suit free form artwork, overcoming the format restriction of ready-made frames.
The first option is to print or mount onto light foam-core board. Display boards can be suspended using simple ceiling and panel fixings. We have components to suit every type of ceiling and any panel thickness in our
Hanging Wire Systems range.
Hanging artwork without mounting it onto board is also a straightforward option. Poster snaps and clamps are metal poster bars which attach easily to the top and bottom edges of a printed poster. The top rail has slide-along suspension eyelets and the bottom rail provides enough weight to keep the print taut. With
Poster Snaps you can print on regular poster paper or there are tougher ‘synthetic paper’ alternatives to reduce the risk of tearing in vulnerable locations.
For larger scale banners or artwork printed onto fabric the alternative
Poster Clamps are a good option. Rather than snapping shut, the clamp action offers enhanced grip and it is easier to position larger graphics.
Artwork on the wall
You can also hang Poster Snaps and Clamps on a wall with the suspension loops on the top rail hooked onto panel pins. Simply settle on the width you like and then order your graphics printed to that exact width of poster rail.
Here are some other ideas.
Wall gripper bars are designed to hold all sizes of paper. Insert from below and lift the graphic up and away to release the inbuilt roller grippers.
Gripper Bars also lend themselves to displaying artwork and charts in classrooms and meeting areas.
You can order low tack self-adhesive prints which can be stuck directly to the wall. Search for a digital wallpaper printers and make sure their material is removable. For fans the ultimate is to paper your whole wall with a Cold War Steve masterpiece.
Snap Frames are very popular as poster frames in all standard sizes. We offer many types including regular silver or
black snap frames as well as
outdoor snap frames fitted with waterproof seals. In all cases the metal frame surrounds snap open to insert your poster behind the plastic poster cover sheet. The clarity of the plastic is not quite as good as glass. Optionally you can place a gloss or over-laminated print in the frame in front of the plastic lens.
Floor-standing art displays
If you have an established gallery you may already own display screens or folding panel systems. Alternatively to break up your display with a few floor standing exhibits we offer a number of poster stands – either with frames in set sizes or wooden art easels which cater for non-standard size artwork.
Display easels provide a studio feel for any art exhibition, but the printed artwork will need to be mounted onto a rigid display board. An imaginative way to display a four-part CWS Quadriptych is to use a tall poster display stand fitted with four landscape A3 snap frames. These can also be double-sided to display the satirical Mustique collection on one side and the tongue-in-cheek Piers set on the other.
Artwork display ideas
We hope you find our artwork display ideas helpful and you have fun getting ready for your own art exhibition. Your theme and execution can be conventional or off the wall! For instance a
gold snap frame might be just what you need for your creative idea to stage an art exhibition in the Victorian loos.
Whether you are displaying the surreal Cold War Steve collection (and encouraging your audience to spot Cilla and Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell in the prints) or putting on a college photographic exhibition, remember that it pays to plan. Decide how your artwork display will look, what display aids such as
artist easels you will need, and create an integrated and well-coordinated art exhibition.
