Framing Choices for Lowbrow Art
Posted by mt | Filed under Random
Given their already fun nature, a Lowbrow piece allows you to have fun with the frame. Sure, you could take it to the frame shop and spend a couple hundred bucks on whatever the frame guy picks out. Or you can do it yourself for less than $50 (sometimes much less).
Garbage-picking and thrift stores aside, there are some ready-made frames that will work great with your art. And if you find something almost perfect, grab a paintbrush or a can of spray paint and make it perfect. Don’t know how to mat? Me neither, and I don’t care. You can fake it. (Luckily, most prints conform to traditional frame sizes.) If you’re dealing with pencil or textured original art and not matting, you’re going to need a spacer so your art doesn’t get smashed up against the glass.
Here’s what I did with a few of my prints.
For this Amanda Visell print, the 1980s subject matter, a girl playing Pong (on her tummy), already contrasts with the style, sort of a 1950s storybook illustration. I’d say that’s a free-for-all invitation for framing. I went with this schmancy, scrolly-looking $20 store-bought frame. The color ties it together, and once I popped the print into the frame, I couldn’t imagine anything else.
I was originally stumped by this Buff Monster print. A black frame? Pink? No, I had to bring out that silver. A tour of my local frame shops had me this close to the custom counter, but then it hit me: This is street art. His images are pasted up on the backs of billboards and those big metal electrical box things on the sidewalk. It should be a little rough. So I picked up a $30 store frame ($50 after learning the hard way that in the battle between metal and glass, the glass will always lose) and found a couple of cheap silver acrylic paints in my arts-n-crafts box. After taping off the sides to keep them black (grounding the silver), I just slopped on a few coats of the paint, allowing runs and smudges, until it was just gritty enough.
Here was a different challenge. This Martin Ontiveros screen print did not fit any of the usual frame sizes. Matting? Nah. I found a big sheet of heavy paper in the scrapbooking/papercraft section and used it as a background. The print is secured to the backing paper with archival double-sided tape. I think the total framing investment here was $25. [Sorry for the lame white border, but the black frame wasn't showing up - DC]
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hahaha...