One popular trend in the art world today is gallery wrapped canvas. In this month’s blog we will take a look at what gallery wrapped canvas is and should you gallery wrap or not?
Gallery wrap simply means the canvas has been stretched and secured to the stretcher bar on the back of the frame. There are two types – the first is continuous in which the image appears on both sides of the frame as well as the front. It is a reflection of the main image – often called mirrored borders. The other type is border color in which the sides are a color that appears to create a border, often black, but can be a complimentary color within the piece.
Gallery wrapped canvases can be displayed without a frame, hung directly on the wall. The canvas can also be placed in a floater frame in which there is a frame around the canvas, but with a small space (usually between ¼” to 1”) between the frame and the canvas so that the canvas appears to be “floating” in the frame.
A quality gallery wrapped piece will have clean folds on the edges. You should not be able to see any lumps under the image or extra pieces of canvas sticking out. In addition, the canvas should be stretched tightly so that there are no waves or bumps. A strong stretcher bar will offer good stability to the piece keeping the canvas from bowing.
In contrast, non-gallery wrapped canvas is intended to be framed. Framing hardware such as staples and tacks can be hidden by the frame. There is no need to extend the images to the side of the piece since the frame will cover it up.
The choice is yours. For your next piece will you gallery wrap or not?