Framing & Matting

In the process of breaking down the cannons of historical tradition to escape the convention of a picture in a frame the contemporary environment has allowed artists to experiment with a wide range of less formal methods of presentation. Pinning raw unmounted and unframed works on the wall may reference an avant-garde sensibility, but it also carries some risk to the work. However, before deviating from tradition, it can be useful to understand the reasons why certain things are done and the methods of doing them. Gaining an insight into historical tradition places an artist in an empowered position where they can make informed decisions appropriate for them, where they can decide if a work is to be hung in an archaically sound way or in a more flippant manner.

Matting and framing is most usually done to: