Acrylic is magic, which boasts beautiful colors and eye-dazzling.

                                                                                   -----Jonathan Adler
                                                                                        American soft interior design master

When it comes to PMMA, most people may not have heard of it, but I believe that as long as you mentioned its nickname: "acrylic" or "plexiglass". You will be very familiar with it.

Acrylic, a plastic material that is transparent as glass and colorful, has brought great changes to our lives and opened up imagination doors to the designers.

This material has transparent texture, gorgeous color, decorative pattern, modeling, which is the same as glass. How excellent acrylic is, we will introduce from the following several aspects.

ONE What Is Acrylic?

It is commonly known as specially processed plexiglass (namely ACRYLIC) and chemical name: polymethyl methacrylate, is a kind of important thermoplastic with its transparency and transmittance just like glass.

Acrylic, an important plasticity polymer material developed earlier, has good transparency, chemical stability, and weather resistance, good hardness, easy dyeing, easy processing, strong light transmittance, high printing adhesion, beautiful appearance, recyclable and other characteristics, and has a wide range of applications in various industries.

TWO Acrylic Production Process

The acrylic molding process includes casting, injection molding, extrusion, hot molding, etc.

△ casting acrylic

△injection molding acrylic

THREE The Characteristics of Acrylic

1. Light density, acrylic is a very light material, its density is only 1.17 ~ 1.20g/cm³, about half of ordinary glass, 43% of metal aluminum.

2. High light transmittance, pure acrylic transparent plate light transmittance in more than 90%. Take 6mm as a reference, common glass transmittance is generally 82-83%, 6mm ultra-white glass transmittance is 90%-92% compared with glass.

3. Strong impact resistance, 16 times of ordinary glass, low risk of fracture.

4. Acrylic has excellent electrical insulation, which works in many electronic products, such as some tiny components of insulators in tablet computers, mobile phones, computers, audio, television, and so on.

5. Moisture-proof, waterproof, no mold, no bacteria. Acrylic is very waterproof and moisture-proof, so it is perfect for making fish tanks, bathtubs, even infinity pools, and aquariums.

6. Acrylic has strong plasticity and can be processed into the required shape at will. Acrylic material is lighter than ordinary glass material, cutting, and processing technology is not complex. Therefore acrylic products can meet the needs of all walks of life for customized products.

7. The wear resistance of acrylic plates is close to aluminum, good stability, and good corrosion resistance for multiple chemicals.

8. Acrylic plate has good printability and spraying, and using appropriate printing and spraying process can give ideal surface decoration effect for acrylic products.

9. Flame resistance: not spontaneous combustion but belong to flammable products, do not have self-extinguishing.

10. Recyclable: waste acrylic can be recycled to remove impurities and add raw materials to re-make acrylic plate for resale.

FOUR  Acrylic Type

1. Transparent Colorless Acrylic

Colorless transparent acrylic is one of the most common materials, and its thickness has various kinds. Transparent acrylic resembles glass, and its transmittance is even better than ordinary glass. It also can be processed in multiple secondary ways, so it is applied widely in many fields.

2. Transparent Color Acrylic

Transparent Colored acrylic plate, commonly known as color plate, its transparent is better than colorless transparent acrylic, more soft, diverse colors, very suitable for decoration. It is fell into three colors according to different transmittance, namely transparent colored, translucent colored, and opaque colored.

3. Pearlescent Acrylic

Pearlescent acrylic is produced from pearl powder or phosphor mixed with general acrylic. Because it has bright color, high surface finish, so it usually is used for unique modeling, food, etc.

4. Embossed Acrylic

There are several types, such as transparent, translucent, colored, and colorless. You can refer to the texture of the embossed glass. Acrylic can also shape these textures for interior decoration, like doors, and windows, etc., and also can show transparency but not perspective.

FIVE  Acrylic Applications

Acrylic is widely applied in (architecture, interior decoration, advertising, transportation, medicine, industry, lighting, daily necessities, and so on).
Range from the windshield, lightbox billboards, to mobile phone bracket, cosmetics bottles

1. Cultural and Creative Product
It produces clever visual effects both acrylic gift box packaging and the products in bright color inside the box, easier to stimulate consumers' curiosity about the product.

2. Furniture 
Acrylic becomes widespread in furniture, and furniture with transparent crystal texture is also very welcome in modern home design.

3. Decorative Paintings
Acrylic paints are non-toxic, dry faster than oil paints, and a popular creative media for many artists.

4. Acrylic Home Decor

5. Bathroom Products
Acrylic is the most common use in the bathtub, and have you had your first acrylic bathtub in your home?

6. Partition Wall
It has the same function as glass, so acrylic is often used as a partition wall or screen.

7. Art Installations
Acrylic has an expressive appealing with an extraordinary appearance, and many designers like to use it as an art installation to attract the eye.

8. Light

9. Buildings

△Munich Olympic Stadium

10. Swimming Pool & Aquarium

Do you know of any other uses for acrylic? Feel free to comment below.

 Chinese Artist-ZhiMin

• -Born in 1975
• -The vice president and the professor of the Chinese Sculpture Institute of Academy of Arts of China
• -A committee member of Artistic Creation and the Instructor guide of Academy of Arts of China

Have you ever learned about sculptures from the signs, such as sea, sky, galaxy, universe, and so on. Now follows Chinese Artist ZhiMin to explore the stories of his sculptures creating.

Artworks Exhibitions

▲Red, White, and Blue 2018 Ceramics Size Variable

Here are three stories about Zhi Min's artworks by Zhi Min.

▲Sound of Sea Partial 340x340x80cm Ceramics and Metals 2019

Twenty years ago, when I was studying, my teacher also said to me: the process of sculpture creation is long and hard, and we need to wait.  For a sculptor, his working period is in the unit of ten years. It depends on how many years you have worked, and you may appear some inspiration in the first and second ten years, and your working methods will appear or you may get some experience in the third and fourth ten years, which is hard to say. I did not quite understand it at the time, but I kept it in mind. Since 2017, I have stepped into my third decade, and I am challenging with new problems.

▲Sound of Heaven 450x450x150cm Ceramic and Metal 2019

In 2019, we carved a dozen pieces of work around the clock, but only finished a few pieces. Artworks such as Start of Autumn and Awakening of Insects, part of the 24 Solar Terms series, having been in the works for three years and are only about a third of the way through the project. 

My latest artwork in 2019, Sounds of nature, Sounds of sea, Sounds of the mountain, gain support from the institute of 【 TULPA. Magic】. It took four months to complete with the help of designers, musicians, playwrights, interaction design engineers, graphic designers, ceramic production, the production of metal, and other experts and technical personnel. Here, I would like to share with you three short stories to describe some of the inspirations in the creative process.

▲The 24 Solar Terms -- Start of Autumn 3300x260x170cm Ceramics and Metals 2019

ONE| The Story of The Sculptor in The Heaven

I've been working on something astronomy-related for years, and I always go to astronomy lectures when I have spare time.

Due to the topic of astronomy covers too broad, I always become utterly disheartened and exciting at the end.

Astronomers say they only think about things beyond the earth, not about the earth and human.

▲Four Gods At The Signs -- Qinglong or Azure Dragon-the God in the East worshipped by the Taoists 850×130×270cm Ceramic and Metal 2017

There was a lecture on the topic of near-Earth asteroids colliding with earth, which was very impressive.

The lecture mentioned that meteorite impacts are a regular occurrence, at least hundreds of huge impacts occurring between 1994 and 2013 by astronomical observations. The director of the Beijing Planetarium said that without organic matter, the earth would look like a bumpy moon. An asteroid impact probability is about 1 year, 4 meters in diameter; 7 mm, 5 years; 60 meters, 1000 years; a kilometer, 500000 years; 5 km, 18 million. But a bigger asteroid is another question, maybe last time -- 65 million years ago dinosaur extinction, cause 80% of species extinction, then lives on earth starts all over again. It sounds like making a sculpture. The earth is what it is today as a result of repeated collisions and self-burning eruptions.

▲Four Gods At The Signs --Vinaceous Rosefinch 620×150×220cm Ceramics and Metal 2017

The unknown and immense forces of Heaven are continually sculpting the universe. Isn't it like a sculptor putting mud on it, or carving it?

I finally understand that Heaven is a sculptor.

▲Four Gods At The Signs -- White Tiger-Name of Group of Seven Stars In The Western Sky 320×120×270cm Ceramics and Metal 2017

He is always making things. I read a similar scene in a novel by Liu Cixin. The heaven artist met the earth artist, and he asked the earth artist: show me your work. Then the earth artist drew a picture and asked, what do you think? The heaven artist took a look, said in little awkwardly: let me show you my work, then flew into space with ice crystals in space between the galaxies to create a huge circle. Could this be Saturn's rings? It's all about the work of heaven.

▲Moon 140x140x80cm Ceramics and Metal 2017

When I was working on Sound of Heaven, I saw many sunk panels on the stage in the south of China. We have been using an object to symbolize celestial phenomena through ancient times. The solar system is a point in the Milky Way's 1 billion planetary systems, and it's not that big. I've done a lot of experiments in my initial works based on the Milky Way Galaxy over the last eight years. Some people say it looks like a pine cone, and I say yes, it's "The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking.

Therefore, there is no abstract or concrete distinction between the object image, and all the object image is the expression of the phenomenon.

▲Four Gods At The Signs -- Xuanwu or God of the Northern Sky 400×60×350cm Ceramics and Metal 2017

When I was working on Sound of Heaven, I saw many sunk panels on the stage in the south of China. We have been using an object to symbolize celestial phenomena through ancient times. The solar system is a point in the Milky Way's 1 billion planetary systems, and it's not that big. I've done a lot of experiments in my initial works based on the Milky Way Galaxy over the last eight years. Some people say it looks like a pine cone, and I say yes, it's "The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking.

Therefore, there is no abstract or concrete distinction between the object image, and all the object image is the expression of the phenomenon.

▲Galaxy 240x240x140cm Ceramic, Metal 2017

TWO| The Story of Boiled Shredded Dry Bean Curd

The relationship between nature and art is much like the relationship between soybeans and tofu.

▲Hetu Luoshu-Earth Sign or Geo-phenomenon 220x220x70cm Ceramic and Metal 2014-2016

Nature is the source of all, while art is the condensation of the artist's ontological values and all externalization, such as culture, history, techniques, aesthetics. After having a certain goal and method, I was thinking about how to transform, and what comes to mind was big boiled dry silk. It is too easy to simulate nature. Soybeans, for instance, can't be boiled, can't be stir-fried, can't be ground into powder. It can't be work but made into tofu with brine. At this point, tofu becomes a bit like art. Brine, much like the description of inspiration in art, means a flash of brilliance. There is no divine spark at all but a stupid experiment time by time. Like tofu, fermented bean curd, bean curd sheets, soya bean has formed their new appearance in the transformation time by time, but their original appearance will disappear, thus catching endless imagination beyond soya bean. My way is to make art from the natural images then out the images to form a new expression.

▲Earth Sign 240x240x70cm Ceramic, Metal 2014-2017

The Chinese character “山”, means mountain, which perfectly follows the pictographic rules on nature as well as separation from natural objects.

▲Hetu Luoshu-Sky Sign or Astronomical Phenomena 250x250x60cm Ceramics and Metal 2014-2016

Finally, I came back to the principle of the Chinese character “永”, which means forever, and eight strokes, as one of the methodological supports of my creation system. Chinese characters are very magical, such as 永 has eight strokes in total, which can be used to combine different characters. When it combined two words, its meaning came out, and three words, its emotion began to transfer, a few words, its paragraph, article, spirit, and philosophy delivered, which start appearing in its system. The language of materials also returns to the form and principle of bricks and tiles. It seems that brick and tile is simple things, but it can pave the way, building a house, can from one thing to another, more complex things, new relationships and new appear, then intrinsic idea manifested. Finally, Sound of Heaven was completed through a series of principles, which also used the celadon to express, carried the cultural worship of jade.

▲Hetu Luoshu - Wanxiang or Wide Spectrum of Life 800x60x50cm Ceramic and Metal 2014-2016

While I respect astrophysics that has a large development prospect, thinking of some objects in a macroscopic view, I also go into the opposite category, looking at smaller, more microscopic structures as a reference. This new work widely employed some elements related to human emotions, such as proteins, benzene rings, DNA sequences. I was deeply fascinated by the world of macro and micro because they are so similar, so mysterious in this exploration process. I think this is also a prelude for my works to turn from macro to micro. You may entirely make an association out of natural water through macro or micro, and into the expression of microstructure from Sound of the Sea.

▲Hetu Luoshu -- Yellow River 320×70×60cm Ceramic and Metal 2014-2016

▲Hetu Luoshu -- Luoshui or Neptune 260×260×60cm Ceramic and Metal 2014-2016

THREE| The Story of Unicorn Beetle

In 2018, I kept a Hercules beetle with my son, watching the thumb-sized worm grow and grow in a few months, evolved into a pupa little by little, finally reinventing itself as a warrior. We were guilt for imprisoned it for so long and decided to set it free into the wild, happening the sight of rainbow color in its body shell reflected by the sun, as its slow paces gradually disappeared in the bushes. I was deeply touched by the great reinventing of lives.

▲The Skyline Ceramic Size Variable 2016

Since all things will eventually melt into nature, then all known beauty is not worth lingering on too much, since the time is limited, only the pursuit of a more fantastic beauty journey is worth longing for. I had to break through the fixed pattern of thinking. During this period, I got some inspiration from music and began to collect natural sounds from all over the world as part of the work, adding visual expression of sounds. With the support of all the experts, this work has completed the preliminary attempt of three dynamic interactive works. But artistic creation cannot be made for the sake of movement. It remains to be thought through whether you have sought the tipping point that moves viewers by your hard pursuit. The course of art creating is long and hard, and only when it touches that point that the power of art may burst out.

▲Free Element

The river of life is vast and boundless--We need to wait, wait for the only thing constant in the course of history: that is "Change".

Recently, Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential contemporary artists, came to Shenzhen to hold a solo exhibition. The exhibition displays more than 80 pieces of his representative works spanning nearly 40 years, including large-scale installations, sculptures, paintings, and other works.
The Anish Kapoor exhibition will be on display at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning until July 4, 2021.

After watching the exhibition, I was most shocked by his sculpture experiments and models, from which I could see his thinking and exploration of materials, colors, and space.

Today we would like to share several of his most representative series of works with you.

Anish Kapoor
anishkapoor.com

• - Born in 1954 in Mumbai, India. Now lives and works in London. 
• - Well-known global contemporary art master, whose works are labeled as a combination of Eastern philosophy and Western spirit.
• - 1973-1977 studied at London  Hornsey College of Art and 1977-1978 at  Chelsea School of Art and Design. A British Indian sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. 
• - In 1990, he was involved in the 44th Venice Biennale on behalf of the United Kingdom, and won the "Premio Duemila Award for New Artist", and became the winner of the "Turner Prize" the following year.

Kapoor has held exhibitions at the Grand Palais in Paris, Kensington Park in London, Rockefeller Center in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, and other world-famous places. He is also the first foreign artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Tai Temple in Beijing. Kapoor's works Cloud Gate, Sky Mirror, and Earth are all known as hot style works.

Kapoor's style is remarkable. He is known for his large-scale installations with a minimalist color, using red wax blocks, stainless steel mirrors, and powders as his usual media. Each work covers Kapoor's exploration of the world and self-consciousness, his pursuit of time and space, and thus forms a dialogue between the phenomenon and the spirit.

Now let's enjoy it!

Explore boundaries with powder

01 1000 names(1979-80)

1000 Names was his first work inspired by the rich colors of India, an extremely simple sculpture with traditional oriental saturated pigments and geometric shapes.

He uses wood, plaster, and paint to combine geometric forms with organic forms to create a poetic collection of sculptures. It was a very new form of sculpture at the time.
 
 

▲Early works 1979-80

 
 
Why did he think of such a way of creation?
 
While traveling in India, Kapoor discovered a toner used for makeup and certain rituals. He wanted to show something natural, primitive, and of free will with these toners. The sculpture through powder that is like an interface, emerging from the floor and wall.
 
 

▲Experiments and drafts 1979-80

 
He worked on such sculptures throughout the 1980s, so he named the series 1000 Names, meaning "infinity", meaning that each sculpture is part of a whole.

▲The shape changed from geometry to organic  1980-1985

 
Explore boundaries with color
 
02 Void Field(1989)
 
In the late 1980s, Kapoor made a series of concave pieces that were painted in deep blue. Colour diminishes the sensation of an object as if it had reached another dimension.
 

▲Version 1 Void 1987

Void explores emptiness, infinity, and the idea of "objects becoming Spaces". It swallows up the viewer's sign with an intense dark blue, the perception of depth and distance flattens out, slipping unawares into the experience.
 

▲Different versions of Void 1987-1989

 
Then he found another way to represent nothingness, Descent into Limbo, a 2.5-meter-deep black hole.
 

  
 
▲Descent into Limbo (1992)

"That's what I'm interested in: the void -- the moment when it's no longer a hole -- a space filled with nonexistence." - Anish Kapoor

people consider the rocks as the spaces we never understand, which are kinds of mysterious infinite spaces. 
 
 

 
Kapoor then wondered whether the same effect could work with a concave mirror.

 
Explore boundaries with mirrors

03 Sky Mirror(2001)
 
He then began exploring industrial materials such as PVC, fiberglass, and steel. He turns the polished stainless steel into various shapes, reflecting or distorting the audience and the surroundings like a haha mirror, trying to change the shape and space.
 

 
One of the most famous creations is the Sky Mirror, which viewers describe as "bringing heaven to earth".

 
▲Sky Mirror 2001

Involving the audience and the space around it is Anish's skill.
 
The work firstly rolls out in the form of public sculpture. Commissioned by the Hanover Theatre, it is made as a 20 feet wide concave mirror.
 

When in front of the Sky Mirror, you feel like you're being pulled into another world. The concave mirror turns the real world upside down, making you feel dizzy while blending in with your surroundings, leaving you wondering about reality and try to break out of the box.
 

 
What you see is not what you see. Kapoor uses the simplest way to provoke philosophical thinking in the viewer.
 

On this basis, the stainless steel surface of Sky Mirror often hides in the surrounding environment, which connecting the environment and breaking the boundaries between things and people.

 ▲Other Mirrors

Walk around the mirror and see how "your world" has changed.

▲"S curve" stainless steel, 216.5x975.4x121.9cm, 2006

▲"Halo" stainless steel, 220x220x44.5cm, 2009

 
▲"Untitled" Stainless Steel and Resin, 220x222x45.5 cm, 2013

 
04 When I Am Pregnant(1992)
 
 
This artwork looks very simple. A round ball pops up on the white wall and smoothly sticks to it.
 
The sculpture, which extending from a building, reflects Kapoor’s interest in the origin of life. When the artist has finished a piece of work, the work is just like his child. While it never belongs to you, the artist has his special evaluation.
  
 
Even in later times, the artist creates other works which are different, the hidden identity crisis triggers impressive thinking when they are on display.
 
 

05 Marsyas(2002-03)

In the early 2000s, Kapoor became more ambitious in the scale of his work and began to work around sites and buildings.

▲Marsyas 2002

In 2002, Kapoor erected three colossal steel rings at the Tate Morden Gallery in the UK and connected them with a 155-meter-long red plastic membrane, forming the shape of a trumpet and extending the length of the gallery's main hall.

 
In 2011 Kapoor placed the giant orb at the Grand Palais in Paris, which has been called one of the supreme works of art ever. The sculpture consists of three 35-meter-high interconnected balloons with a deep purple surface and a  semitransparent red interior.

 
▲Leviathan 2011

Spectral linear structures change with the position and intensity of the sun vary. The movement of the shadow is like a "beast" wandering around.

 
 
▲Leviathan interior

Covered by red PVC canvas, the device is a giant double-horn structure. The viewers shuttle through the installation and can never see them all. Therefore, it remains mysterious and unfathomable. The participation of the audience becomes part of the work.

While the viewer visiting, the device can make a sound reverberating in the whole Turbine Hall Of Tate at the same time. Through dual sensory stimuli, Marsyas has become one of the most notable works of Kappor.

In 2009, Kappor created the permanent device in New Zealand and re-displayed the large sculpture outdoors. The sculpture, which is a double-mouth trumpet-like device, was installed in the groove of the mountains.
 
 
 
 
The size of the work is a difficult point in the production process. From the view of the artist, the size must be bigger than the previous work. Size is just a tool but not a rigid index for measuring the quality of the work.
 

 
 
 
06 My Red Hometown(2003)

▲My Red Hometown. Wax, paint, iron arm, engine, diameter 12 m, 2003
 
My Red Hometown, a giant automated art installation at the heart of the gallery, is powered by a machine that turns a metal arm along a giant container containing 25 tons of soft red wax. The metal squares moved slowly on the dial like hands on a dial, and the traces of red wax seemed to be the passage of time. The red waxwork volcano is about to erupt magma, driven by the rotating wheel, constantly regenerate, cycle and repeat.

 
07 Cloud Gate(2006)
 

We have to say that Kapoor has accumulated a large amount of wealth through many public projects, after all, art costs a lot. The one that received the most praise is Cloud Gate in Millennium Park Plaza, Chicago, which the local people jokingly call Bean.
 

Kapoor uses the polished stainless steel again and seamlessly welds them together, forming a magic shape. Like the series of Sky Mirror, Bean's surface reflects the distorted images of its surroundings. At this time, he perfectly combines the ideas of Sky Mirror and When I Am Pregnant.
 
  
 
The art reflects one or two people, or a single building and the whole complex of Chicago. It also inspires people to approach it, establish a relationship with it and be enlightened.
 
The work is not as easy to make as Sky Mirror. It costs unprecedentedly high--$23 million. It is so lucky for Kapoor not to be sued because there is only $6 million when applying for the project. Just because of the extremely high costs, he has to hire security guards to watch over day and night.
 
 
 
However, the price of Kappor’s work is indirectly driven by this expensive work, which also makes him a benchmark for the price of contemporary artworks. 

08 Descension (2014)
 

Descension is made up of a huge and round whirlpool, in which black flows are continuously collapsing, forming a non-stop black hole. It is one of Kapoor’s most attractive works, which always makes people deeply lost in thought. The water is treated with black pigments thus producing a similar effect to a black hole.
The water here represents a strong oriental philosophy. It is the most commonly used material with extraordinary power.

The work has been curated in many places, where it shows different meanings. When it was displayed under the Brooklyn Bridge, USA in 2017, it was implied that the political outlook was not clear at the time.
 
 
Kapoor pays little attention to the connection with nature and focuses mainly on himself. From the crisis of his own identity to the step-by-step exploration, transcending himself, and trying to influence how the viewer sees and treats the world, Kapoor's artwork continues to exert its influence.

09 Dirty Corner（2015）

In 2015, Anish Kapoor held a solo exhibition at the Palace of Versailles. But the show did not go well, and the installation was destroyed three times. 

Facing the ornate palace, Kapoor placed a huge steel "horn" with gravel in the middle of the garden.
 
The "indecent" appearance immediately angered the French people, who began attacking Kapoor, who is half-Jewish, with "anti-Semitic" remarks written in French on sculptures and rocks.
 
 

Dirty Corner suddenly became a real "Dirty Corner" -- an outlet for racists and right-wing royalists.
 
Kapoor responded, "I will keep these scars to remember this painful history......".
 
Eventually, he had to compromise and covered the graffiti in gold foil after a complicated legal battle.
 
"As an artist,
We have to do experiments in public,
That's how society grows."
- Anish Kapoor

 
10 Stage Designs(2012-2016)
 
Kapoor designed the stage installation for Parsifal (an opera in Dutch National Theatre), which full of his usual elements: mirrors and high-purity reds and blues.

▲Het Muziektheater 2012 Parsifal
 
In 2016, Kapoor designed a tripartite stage for Tristan and Isolde ( an opera in British National Theatre) to enhance the sense of order in the space. The bold styling combined with the shadow effect creates a mythical backdrop for this love story.

 
▲ENO 2016 Tristan and Isolde 
 
 
Kapoor's sculptures blend the object, viewer, and environment into one, giving you an immersive sensory experience.
The audience is no longer a mere spectator, but a participant, inviting us to touch, feel and experience a different world.

How much do you know about the picture mounting?

MOUNTING 0F CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS

ONE | ABOUT THE MOUNTING

           -Three-part for Painting, Seven-part for Mounting

Anyone who has bought art knows the truth of three-part for painting, seven-part for mounting. Picture mounts are beneficial for a variety of reasons. They can not only provide decoration for the artwork but better improve its visual appeal. More importantly, it is also an important way to protect the artwork, which helps avoid as much as possible damage and influence from the external environment that can cause to the artworks.

Everyone knows the importance of mounting, but can you distinguish between effective mounting and ineffective mounting?

TWO | Ineffective Mounting v.s. Effective Mounting

Just imagine, even if you framed and protected your favorite piece of art, it starts browning and discolored after a few years. One hand is due to the aging of the material itself, on the other hand, the pollution from the outside, including the way of picture mounting.

The form and material used in mounting will affect the work itself from the inside. If the appropriate mounting form and material are not selected, it will cause greater damage to the arts. And if using acid mounting materials to protect the work, acid erosion will accelerate the aging process of the artwork, which is ineffective mounting. Thus, "effective mounting" shows its important role.

01.The Principle of Mounting Reversible

Effective mounting must follow the principle of reversible protective mounting, which means without permission from the customer, the decorator is never allowed to cut, paste or fold the works. After the work is mounted, it can return to the original state.

02. Acid-free Mounting

If the work you want to mount is of high value and significance, you should choose the best mounting form according to the suggestions given by the decorator. Acid-free mounting is one of the most effective ways to reduce the damage to the works.

Now we're going to talk about acid-free mounting.

THREE | What is Acid-free Mounting?

The Fine Art Trade Guild (FATG) was founded in London, the UK in 1910. It is the authoritative certification body of the art printing, mounting, and framing industry in the contemporary world, and the maker standards of global mounting.

GRADE MOUNTING OF ARTWORKS

The FATG sets industry standards for art and mounting industry practitioners, classifying mounting forms into the following five levels: 

Different levels of framing technology also meet individual needs.

01. MUSEUM LEVEL

• A top-level mounting
• Improving the highest aesthetic value of the artworks
• Keeping arts for up to 35 years
• The mounting process is entirely reversible
• Suitable for the arts of high-value and historical value

02. PROTECTION LEVEL

• Second only to museum-level mounting
• Enhancing the visual appeal of the artworks
• Protecting works for up to 20 years
• Acid-free protective materials
• The mounting process is reversible
• Suitable for emotional value things or original works, or limited edition works

03. COMMEND LEVEL

• Medium-level mounting form
• Against air pollution for about 5 years
• Not necessarily reversible
• Suitable for visual effects and sentimental value of replaceable things

04. ECONOMIC LEVEL

• The inferior mounting form
• The economical price with the good visual effect
• Short preservation time
• Suitable for normal, low-value alternative works without or with emotional attachment

05. The LOWEST LEVEL

• Low cost and efficient
• Low demand for overall appearance and quality
• Mainly for temporary display and have no commercial value

Next, let’s move on to acid-free mounting.

In some cases, such as mature museums, cultural relics protection, and art market, their artwork may be preserved using the acid-free level mounting for maintenance and framing. Acid-free mounting is also called museum-level or protection level mounting. So, what is acid-free mounting? Acid-free mounting means that the mounting process is effectively isolated with acid-free materials to prevent the penetration of active acid contents. Its material standard is pH 7.0-7.5. The material is not easily changed from the environment in special handling. Advantages: preservation resistance, environmental influence (such as UV light, moisture, humidity, air pollution, dust, and physical contact), can extend the life of the work, and a long time to maintain the original state, etc.

Except the works are on acid-free paper, the material used in picture mounting must also be acid-free and lignin-free.

01 MOUNTING BOARDS

The first thing to mention is acid-free mounting boards. An acid-free board has many uses. It contains acidic chemicals that are covered up and meant to be exposed later. The mounting boards for mounting, non-lignin, avoid the acid coming into contact with the artwork and buffer with calcium carbonate (CaCO3), pH above 7, such as MUNKEN and COLOURMOUNT cards. It helps keep color over time and is better for long-term storage than ordinary boards. 

02 TAPE

TAPE also needs to be acid-free. The structure of acid-free tape is generally composed of lignin-free acid-free paper + acid-free active adhesive. In addition to itself acid-free, it can isolate acid and avoid harm to artworks.

03 FRAME

The ordinary wooden frame itself is easily affected by humidity, temperature, acidity, air pollution, etc., acid from the wooden frame will infiltrate the board, so that it turns brown, and eventually ruins the works. Therefore, choosing the frame also needs to go through deacidification treatment, if using an acidic wood frame, it is necessary to use acidic tape for isolation.

FOUR | Technological Process

In the past eight years, SOA ARTS has become a representative of the typical art wholesaler with high quality and good taste in the client's mind.

SOA ARTS mounting process adopts a protective mounting level and follows the principle of reversible mounting for each work.

In the process of mounting for each is for the permanent spread of the work, must be strictly treated with meticulous attitude.

There can be no mistake at every step, and the decorator will be careful inspection of the work. The artwork is pasted in the protective level paper before the acrylic and backboard are pressed front and back to the arts to reduce oxidation and do not allow any dust. It is not only a responsibility to the customer but also a respect for the artwork.

A decorator inspects a frame before it is mounted.

Positional adjustment

The decorator is framing.

The decorator reinforced the frame.

The decorator is going to sticker core.

The decorator is dusting.

Mounting finished.

After finished, do you have any idea about acid-free mounting? Welcome to contact SOA ARTS for professional mounting solutions. 

For designers who don’t have basic knowledge in art or delicate design skills, when they see a harmonious color scheme of the home, the admiration for it is very high, but only stay in the feeling of “fantastic” and “very classy”. But there is no clue as to the color matching in their case.

So, how can you match colors like a master at will? What are the rules and points for color matching for your interior design?

Interior Space Color Matching Guide

Those master-level color matching secrets, there are no complicated colors to make people look very comfortable. It is so easy!

That is: Less is more.

ONE | IKEA Color Matching Rules

One key for IKEA color matching

A large area of light tones (low saturation color) + small area of high saturation color, it can serve as an overall ground by using these two colors and then match with a small area of bright color

Why? You may wonder, should IKEA color matching be popular? Fresh and bright is the secret for IKEA color matching.

TWO | Choose an Emphasis Color and Repeat It

It is the most commonly used emphasis method in color match, and also very simple to do: 

Black, white and gray base + an accent color

For example, adding colors to black, white and gray, and the large base is reconciled into light tones/bright tones, etc. + a key color...

The accent color is not a random choice of red and green, placed abruptly in the center of the room to catch the eye.

Black, white, and gray can be regarded as a “disappearing state” in the color system. Choosing black and white ash as a large base for wall color, ceiling, and large-area interior decoration is equivalent to creating a blank canvas. At this time, you can fill it with any color. It’s all okay.

Next, choose a color you like as the key one, and repeat, it will give people a sense of “fashionable and high-class”.

01 Black, White, and Gray + Wood

02 Black, White, and Gray + Blue

03 Black, White, and Gray + Golden 

04 Black, White, and Gray + Pink

05 Black, White, and Gray + Yellow

If you want to create a focal point in the space, make the color of a single item unique.

If you have brightly colored home decor, such as a golden-yellow sofa, it will be incompatible in a black, white, and gray environment. You can choose a black, white, and gray painting with gold to achieve the balance in the picture, and your sofa will become the finishing touch that makes the space easy to be naughty and lively.

THREE | Superimposition of the Same Color System

Modern homeowners’ spaces are more individual, and they always want to add some colors to create a sense of freshness. Once the walls paint colors, the matching of furniture and decorative paintings will have higher requirements.

The best way is to stack the same color system:

Choose home decor items and decorative paintings of the same color as the wall, which can be in various shades, but within the same color system.

The gray-painted wall, with a slighter pillow and carpet, plus a western-style table, and the lighter color of the plant decoration painting, forming a layered warm color transition

Verdancy color is also good. There is a feeling of spring in the air.

In recent years, the trending color olive green is very tonal when used in the home design.

The walls, framed paintings, pillows, and carpets all maintain the same color system. The framed arts can choose some black and white or dark green so that the overall atmosphere can be fresh and peaceful.

FOUR |  Bold Contrast Color (Complementary Color)

It is the complementary color matching method in Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings.

Here are a few of the most commonly used and the most effective matches, which can be grasped easily without understanding the color principle.

01 Blue + Beige

It can go with a perfect contrast effect.

Contrasting colors can’t be hit with high-purity colors, because it makes people into a sense of internecine destruction, and its impact is enough but not eye-pleasing.

The blue pillows are bright, but the beige colors in pillows and decorative paintings are very light. As soon as the fresh and soft aqua beige appears, with one thicker and one lighter, gaudy colors are immediately lowered, and the entire space is balanced.

02 Pink + Golden + White

The white framed paintings, the pink walls, and the golden home decor are perfect.

In a bathroom, the white decorative paintings blend well into the pink walls.

03 Green + Purple

I think they are built in pairs and collide with a modern and textured feeling.

In summary, only when color matching conforms to the compositional aesthetics can the relationship between the subject and the background be handled well, and the color can beautify the space.

What is your favorite decoration color in 2021?

Let’s Enjoy the Collision of Classic and Trendy：Exhibition of Italian Realism Painter Pietro Annigoni 

How impressive is this Italian painting “all-rounder” who is fascinated by Chinese ink painting?

He is one of the most famous Italian artists of the 20th century.

He is the most beloved portrait master by Queen Elizabeth II and well-known across the UK,

He is also Time Magazine’s chef portrait artist, 

He is Pietro Annigoni.

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

“‘Staring’-Exhibition of Italian Realism Painter Pietro Annigoni”

just had its grand opening at Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum on April 2nd, 2021.

The exhibition will display 53 of Pietro Annigoni’s works in 5 sections. The creation spanning 50 years has fully demonstrated his pure and colorful artistic career. It is also the second solo exhibition of a Western artist in Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum following Norwegian expressionist master Edward Munch in 2020.

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

As one of the few “all-rounders” in art history who is proficient in various painting techniques and makes good use of many painting materials, Pietro Annigoni has fully and comprehensively demonstrated his omnipotence through a variety of themed works Painting skills.

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

Realistic painting art has a long-lasting and far-reaching charm. The point of this exhibition is that it shows the “encyclopedia”-style artistic creation techniques of the realist master Annigoni. His lines are loose and flexible, and the characters presented are vivid and powerful.

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

When you come to the exhibition, you will see the master’s famous portrait- “Lady with a Pearl Necklace”. The facial expressions in the picture are soft and natural, and the details of the surroundings are rich and harmonious.

Lady with a Pearl Necklace-80*60cm Oil painting on canvas

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

There are also a large number of sketches in the exhibition. Among them, the draft portrait of Queen Elizabeth he painted is very precious. The simple outline of the lines makes the queen’s charm and temperament emerge.

Left: “Portrait of Queen Elizabeth” Right: “Queen Elizabeth Portrait Sketch”

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

The ancient and complicated oily Tempera painting technique is the most important and brilliant part of Annigon’s creation.

The works curated in this exhibition, “Self-Portrait”, “The Hermit’s Gathering-Anacoletti in the Desert”, and “The Hermit in the Desert” painted by Annigoni with oily Tempera. While succeeding, Annigoni realized: “I found that my works, although not all, are opposed to the current genre, even out of time.”

Self-Portrait-Pietro Annigoni 1910-1988 

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

Annigoni believes: “The only new things in my heart that urge me to act are my happiness, my pain, my excitement, and my passion for the life of my world.” “I use my greatest enthusiasm Paying attention to every contemporary art phenomenon in Italy and abroad, and always listening.”

The Hermit’s Gathering-Anacoletti in the Desert-80*100cm 1947 Oily Tempera on Board

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

One person, one exhibition, more than 50 groups of works, but almost covers the painting techniques and materials that have nearly disappeared from the early Renaissance until the present, or are still widely popular.

It is worth mentioning that this exhibition will also display his “Indian Sketching” series of works drawn with Chinese ink and wash. This unique technique and material of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting can be used with ease in his pen, regardless of the level of the picture. The composition, the light and shade changes of the brush strokes all reflect the exquisite skill of the painting “all-rounder”, the painter’s love for painting creation, and the courage and enthusiasm of integrating traditional and contemporary through practice.

Indian Sketching-39*57.5cm 1957 Paper, brush, Chinese ink, and light color

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

When you “stare” at Pietro Annigoni’s paintings, a scene or a portrait, quiet and far-reaching, but with a slightly cold atmosphere, is actually “undercurrents”, that is the artist himself. Emotions, intense perceptions, and hidden passions.

The Hermit in the Desert

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

In addition, there are many portraits and human body sketches drawn by Annigoni in different periods, all showing Annigoni’s solid modeling ability and realism skills, light, accurate, delicate, elegant, and precise beauty. It is in the same line as his oil paintings.

Portrait of Umberto Gonadanro-60*50cm 1981 Wood oil painting

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

What we discover from this pure and ordinary artist lies in his persistence in the inheritance of traditional art, as well as the transmission of public aesthetics, universal value, and spirit of art. At the exhibition, you will feel the most ordinary beauty of realism, the purest emotion and the most authentic depiction, and the life experience of the master. 

Screengrab via Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum

Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum housed in the iconic Bund 27, on the sixth floor of a modern Renaissance-style building. The museum is a comparatively new addition to Shanghai’s art scene, and exhibitions usually revolve around the historical changes of the Bund and Shanghai’s unique haipai culture. 

Screengrab via ELLE DECO

Clive Madgwick is an English painter known for his realistic English countryside scenery paintings, which depict trout fishermen, farmers working in the fields, and sleepy port towns. He was born in Surrey, England in 1934, studied dentistry at Gay Hospital, and took painting as a hobby until he became a professional in middle age.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Madgwick traveled to Italy, where he painted the landscapes and architecture of Venice and Florence. He was a member of the Royal Society of British Painters and often exhibited in his hometown, England, until his death in Suffolk, England in 2005. McGwick’s oil paintings are in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II of Windsor Castle.

Korovin is Russia's leading impressionist painter, and his name is closely related to Russian Impressionism. This art genre was born in France and was widely spread throughout Europe in the last 25 years of the 19th century.

Korovin was born in a merchant family as "peasants of Vladimir Siberian" in Moscow. His father Aleksey Mikhailovich Korovin received a university degree and inherited the family business established by Korovin's grandfather. Korovin's older brother, Sergeor Korovin, is a notable realist painter.

In 1875, Korovin entered the Moscow Academy of Architecture and Art to study painting, and studied with Vasily Perov and Alexei Safrasov. At that time, his brother Sergey was already a student in this school. When Korovin was a student, he became friends with classmates Valentin Serov and Isaac Levitan, and maintained their friendship throughout their lives.

In 1885, Korovin went to Paris and Spain. "Paris was shocking to me...Impressionists...with them, I learned everything that I could not learn in Moscow," he later wrote.

Light and color became the "protagonists" of Impressionist paintings, represented by Monet, Sisley, Van Gogh, Renoir and others.

During World War I, Korovin served as a disguise consultant in the Russian army. Prior to this, he had been working in theaters in 1900, having served as stage manager at the Bolshoi Theater, Mariinsky Theater, and Milan La Scala.

He has traveled to the Caucasus, Ukraine, Spain and France. Paris has always been a very special place, which has had a profound influence on Korovin's artistic creation. On September 11, 1939, Korovin died in Paris, France.

This work is in sharp contrast to the gloomy landscape created by the dark Northern Expedition of Norway and Russia in the beginning of this century. It is the white lady sitting in the garden, which is the color and light of his mature works. Since 1915, when the work was painted, he rejected his more monotonous palette and adopted a bolder spectrum. He felt that only such creation could express "the breath of nature".

Korovin further experimented with the interaction between color and light of a white lady sitting in a garden. The central figure dressed in white lights up the composition and inspires the apple green hue on the surrounding trees and lawns. The white on the tablecloth and the contrast texture in the leaves of the trees cleverly use to further enhance the effect. These abbreviations can also be seen in Corwin's "terrace" in 1916, in which Corwin used similar elements to create the brilliance of natural sunlight.

Impressionist painters often work outdoors. Therefore, their works are full of unprecedented freshness and pure colors. These paintings reflect a reflection on self-consciousness and ordinary life. This randomness does not follow the general rules of composition. "Portrait of a Choir Girl" (1883) is considered to be the earliest Russian impressionist work.

Paul Henry, a post-Impressionist painter, is good at landscape painting. The world he paints is always clean and beautiful. The blue sky is full of white clouds and people are leisurely doing farm work. His painting makes people want to live in the picture, feel the beauty every day.

Paul Henry R.H.A. (1876-1958), one of the most influential and well-known landscape artists in the 20th century in Ireland, was born in Belfast, Ireland and studied at the Belfast Academy of Art. In 1898, he went to study at the Julian Academy in Paris and was influenced by Jean Francois Millet's rural realism.

Later, he moved to Academie Carmen, opened by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In Paris, he met his first wife, grace, and married in 1903. Henry worked in London until 1910, when he had been painting for books and magazines. In 1912, Henry moved to Achill Island, where the local scenery became the main theme of his paintings.

In 1920, Henry moved to Dublin and established the Dublin Painters Association with his wife, Jack B. Yeats and Mary Swanzy and other painters. In 1929, he separated from his wife. He stayed in Dublin for twelve years, frequently traveling back to western Ireland, and then moved to Wicklow with his second wife, artist Mabel Young, who married in 1954.

Paul Henry is widely regarded as the most important landscape painter in Ireland. His works can be found in the National Gallery of Ireland, Hugh Lane Gallery, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Ulster Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Jacques Volpi is a very famous painter from the south of France. He was born in Ales, Gare in 1948. He has painted in Cévenole and Provencal and has won many awards and medals. He uses the technique of the "knife" to paint, the subject is vivid characters, and the colors are lively. He is famous for the characters in the rain of noon of France in his works. He exposes internationally and his works are part of prestigious collections around the world.