Diasec Face-Mounts Have Arrived!

Your Success as a Creative is Important to Us

Reed Art & Imaging has a long-standing commitment to helping you maximize your artistic output by providing the absolute best reproductions and presentations that we can.  

An extension of that commitment is our recent acquisition of North America’s very first Diasec Producer’s License.

If you’ve never heard of Diasec, you are in the majority. Until now, this premier mounting process has never been done in North America.

Some of you might be aware that leading art museums around the globe prefer Diasec over all other acrylic print mounting systems and is the preferred  process of successful fine artists in Europe. You might also know that North American Museums and Galleries who offer authentic Diasec prints have been importing them for years at great expense.

It’s More than a Face-Mount

Diasec Acrylic Face Mounts Denver Colorado USA

Diasec is a presentation AND a preservation process.

A very specific silicon gel, in combination with Diasec’s proprietary catalyst, results in a permanent bond that is superior to the pressure-sensitive adhesive technology that you might be familiar with. This bond is so effective, that it preserves your artwork by sealing out damaging elements — even in extreme environments.

It Has Real History

Face-mounting was patented approximately 50 years ago in Switzerland by Heinz Sovilla-Brulhart, who held the patents on several forms of print-to-acrylic bonding methods. He started out using varnishes and film-based adhesives before improving the system by developing a catalyst-activated silicon gel. When his patents expired, the simpler and less expensive processes that Sovilla-Brulhart had already discarded were adopted by the rest of the industry worldwide, leaving only a few producers of the silicone/catalyst process. To this day, it remains a closely guarded secret available only to licensed companies.

A few copycat processes have come along, but without the special catalyst, they lack the half-century track record of consistency and excellence that define the genuine Diasec product.  While a silicon gel alone will temporarily bond, it will also readily peel away. Only with the catalyst is the bond to acrylic permanent.

Go Deeper for the Difference

On the surface, Diasec is a high-end face-mount. Go deeper and the differences add substantial value:

The Diasec gel provides UV filtering greater than 99%, when used with even the most basic of acrylics. Acrylics suitable for fine art can provide additional protection nearing a total of 99.99%! When cured, the resulting permanent bond will not de-laminate, bubble, peel, or otherwise separate — even at temperatures high enough to damage the acrylic.

A typical shipping container or truck can reach summertime temperatures in excess of 130°f.  At those temps, pressure sensitive optical adhesives (PSAs) begin to soften, and when combined with shaking and vibrations during transportation, can fail. The last thing you want is for your buyer to excitedly open their expensive print only to find that the adhesive has separated.

As the first Diasec producer in North America, Reed is committed to ending this problem.

The Diasec process protects you and your art and, in turn, protects your reputation with collectors and galleries.

Pigment Papers You Ask?

Pigment papers, with the occasional exception, are quite compatible with the Diasec process and look amazing!

The wider gamut and significantly longer expected display lifespans of a proper Pigment Giclée print are a huge selling point for your collectors. Chromogenic papers often advertise a moderately good rating of around 70 years (estimated) under proper conditions. With the right combination of inks and papers, a pigment print may reach over 200 years (estimated) under proper conditions.  We think it’s pretty clear which option your buyer will prefer.

And the textures!

We were stunned by the beauty of fine art-textured papers within a Diasec mount. This dimension can be the visual turning point when it comes to convincing your clients to make the jump to this process. The print actually looks as if it’s “floating in acrylic” — an effect that must be seen to believe!

A Lifetime of Protection

Your image and the acrylic effectively become “one”.

Your work is sealed from 99%+ of harmful UV light and the humidity that can accelerate aging. Air borne pollutants that yellow and stain, and cleaning vapors that can prematurely fade the print are a thing of the past. The sealed print is also protected from the threat of mold, mildew, bugs, and other nasties that never rest.

And finally, a proper backer behind the print protects it from careless impacts to the verso once it’s in the hands of your collector or gallery.

  • The preferred face-mount system of major art museums.
  • Protection from over 99% of harmful UV.
  • Sealed from humidity, pollution and other contaminants.
  • Texture pigment papers are now possible for longevity and a unique look.
  • Not prone to the typical failures of pressure sensitive optical films.
  • Looks amazing, lasts a lifetime, and keeps your collectors happy.

High end galleries and world class museums demand the very best in facemount-to-acrylic protection and presentation. Reed is proud to be the first licensed dealer in North America to offer Diasec’s state of the art technology in this very specialized field.

Sticking Your Art Where It Doesn’t Belong; The Big Picture Project

The Month of Photography is upon us! One of the events in Denver, Colorado for 2013 is The Big Picture street art project. Led by local photo impresario Mark Sink and co-hosted by Art-Plant and Artwork Network, The Big Picture plans to paper the outside walls of buildings around Denver with large format prints of images from local, national and international photographers. The first Big Picture in 2011, exchanged images not only with cities around the United States, but cities in South America, Switzerland, England, China, Mexico, Canada, France and Germany. The 2013 Big Picture will be sending and receiving photos from across the U.S.A. and around the world!

 

wheat-paste-engraving

Toulouse-Lautrec with on of his posters for the Moulin Rouge

“Street Art” is generally defined as: ‘art, often political or dealing with social themes, displayed on streets, sidewalks or walls of public spaces and often without permission of the property owner.’ There are quite a few types of media used in the creation of street art. The medium we normally associate with street art – paint, is actually fairly new on the scene. Bansky, building on the earlier paint-and-stencil work of John Fekner and Blek Le Rat has, over the past 15 years, become the most well known artist in that genre.

The medium of wheat-pasting paper on walls dates back to the nineteenth century and was used mostly for commercial purposes: advertising of products and events, especially circuses. Art and commerce began to merge in the 1890s when Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters for the Moulin Rouge, theaters and other events, papered the walls of buildings around Paris. Ernest Pignon-Ernest took wheat-pasting to a higher level and has been pasting amazing art projects on the walls of Naples,

obama-hope-style

Shepard Fairey’s 2008 “Hope” political campaign poster

Soweto, Brest, Ramallah and more since the 1960s. In the United States, Shepard Fairey gained notoriety as a sticker and wheat-paste artist with his “Obey Giant” series and achieved national recognition with the 2008 Obama “Hope” poster.

 

Computers and wheat paste have joined forces to bring photography to the streets. Photo files submitted to the Big Picture are being emailed around the world to sister cities in the project. The files are then printed and pasted locally. The Colossal Reed Art & Imaging Galactic Headquarters (CRAIGHQ) building at the corner of North Ninth Avenue and Federal Blvd., was the first Denver location to be pasted to kick off The Big Picture Project for 2013. Mark Sink, Peter Davies and others in the Big Picture pasting crew were joined by Gary Reed, Barb Pullin, Jody Akers, Bob Jewett, and Merhia Madsen (and her daughters Annabelle and Maggie) from Reed Art & Imaging to put the first batch of images up on the walls. The work at Reed isn’t complete! In addition to more Big Picture images to arrive, Reeds’ employees will be pasting the building with their own fine art images in the weeks to come. Also to be included will be several images from the winners of Reeds’ recent facebook contest held in honor of The Big Picture Project and the Month of Photography. Make sure you stop by to see what’s new!

 

The Big Picture website will be posting a map of the locations where images have been pasted locally and around the world. Look for it so you can take your own tour and see the amazing art prints posted on the walls about town! If you’d like to get in on the project, Big Picture is taking submissions through March 15. So hurry on over to the Big Picture website for all the details and get your photographs on the street!

 

Click to see the e-book of Big Picture Project images from 2011, and watch for the 2013 book due out later this year!

 

Additional Links:

The Big Picture Facebook page has plenty of pictures of the pasting at Reed Art & Imaging.

Fresh Art Photography will be taking part in the Big Picture project.

YouTube: Ernest PIGNON-ERNEST – Les peintures urbaines (4:42) A retrospective of Pignon-Ernests’ wheat paste installations in HD!

Wholesale Photo-Plaque Opportunities Available

If you have a retail or online business and are looking for a fast selling, highly profitable product, look no further!

Wholesale Photo-Plaques

sfyl logoASignOfWisdom.com has dedicated itself to selling our entire line of photo-plaques!
Choose from Travel, Inspirational, Humorous and Vintage.
To see our entire line, visit  www.asignofwisdom.com. Our line of products is a proven money maker in online storefronts such as amazon or ebay.

Beautify Your Photographs While Making a Great First Impression

We were recently introduced to a new type of laminate for photographs, ink jet and poster prints we call “Crystal” for its faceted like surface. This is very different than a normal gloss or lustre coating. Being 5 ML thick with full UV protection, this laminate is extremely durable. We put it to the test for over 2 months and found it to be one of the toughest cold mount poly laminates we have seen. Our test clients loved it immediately and all but demanded we add it to our lineup of products. No doubt about it, the blacks are much richer, colors have more pop and the image has more depth and clarity. We first started offering this product strictly on our Gallery Mounts because it is tough enough to go through our edging machine and not show any scuffs or damage.

Now, we have make it available for any print mounted to any type of substrate. Fine art prints from wildlife and scenic’s to abstracts and commercial prints never looked richer or have had better protection. Check out our samples at the lab or if you are out of town just call us to have one sent out to you. My personal recommendation for an incredible eye catching, heart stopping, WOW kind of print is to put this laminate on Kodak Metallic paper. Although it also looks great on Fuji Crystal Archive C print paper and Fuji Flex, the Metallic is killer.

“It cost half the price and looks twice as good as a picture frame!”

The Gallery Mount Photo Mount and Art Framing Collection.
For over 8 years now we have seen the popularity of this type of display for photographs, posters Print being edged as part of the Gallery Mount processand ink jet prints take off. The clean contemporary look of this art framing concept is very attractive and fits almost any decor. The fact that it is usually less expensive than other art framing ideas, more durable and so versatile has made it a fan favorite. Clients with fine art installations either in home or offices especially love it. Because of its durability, no glass to break or cause those nasty reflections, many institutions such as park visitor centers, museums and anywhere there is a high volume of traffic have made the switch. The base substrate is MDF in either 3/8 or 1/2″ thick. We recently produced over 100 pieces for a hospital in Massachusetts using Flame Retardant MDF so that the final product would meet their building code requirements.

Close up of Gallery Mount processPractically finger print proof, it can be cleaned with most any glass cleaner product so the care and feeding is very easy and minimal. Gallery Mounts are available in a variety of styles and edge colors. Between the ‘Flat’, ‘Float’ and ‘Box’ versions there is almost an unlimited variety you can create by mixing, matching and stacking them together to get a totally custom look. Over 22 edge colors and literally thousands of background matte colors round out the photo mounting options available. Also, they are very easy to hang using a frenchClose-up of beautiful Gallery Mount edge cleat for the Float and Box styles. The Flat version is hung by a keyhole and all hanging hardware is included. All images are coated with a UV protective laminate in either our new Crystal surface or our traditional Velvet. Durable, cleanable, less expensive and great looking, this is the only way to display your artwork, awards, posters and more. If your in the neighborhood please stop by as we have plenty of samples for you to see. If you have had a Gallery Mount made we would love to hear your thoughts about it. Also let us know about any creative designs or applications you may have come up with.

Black & White Chromagenics Offer Stunning Tonal Range and Detail.

Using a chromagenic process to printBlack and White Chromagenic Prints Black & White on canvas offers visually stunning B&W Prints in the same sizes and pricing as we offer in all of our Gicleé Pigment Prints. You will be amazed at the beauty of the expanded tonal range and clarity of detail in these exhibition quality fine art  pigment prints. The standard features include continuous-tone like look, image permanence, tonal control and exquisite appearance while offering the unique advantage of greater dynamic range over conventional wet process printing.