Creating "Invisible" Picture Hangers for Sculptures in an Asheville Loft

One of the many, many reasons I love my work is that there's always a new challenge. This month we had a last-minute request to hang a found metal sculpture without any visible hardware.

Why was this challenging? Because this was a metal grille, and almost any hardware would show between the gaps.

So how did we do it? The answer is simple: artist's paint. That's the perk of having a working artist on staff!

This is acrylic paint, which dries fast so it can be painted onsite to match the work we're hanging. It's also very durable and lightfast.

The grille already had little hooks at the edges, so we painted a picture hanger to match. This hanger is small, but rated for 50 pounds, so this lightweight piece is well-fastened to the wall. And you can hang it straight into drywall, with no stud needed!

I love this grille as art. The interior designer who chose this is considering a painted circle behind it, which would really add texture and depth.

We also hung several other pieces which went well with the industrial style of this downtown Asheville loft, including one of a local-ish celebrity:

These mirrors were a bit tricky to hang as well. They were already stuck together as a unit, but they can still be tough to mount on the wall at the right place because it's hard to find the bottom/center on them. Fortunately Arthur is a whiz at this kind of thing.

The homeowner added the wine rack afterward, and I love the way the mirrors look like bubbles coming up out of the bottles.

And then there's this gem, which is a metal print. (If you haven't seen metal prints in person, you're missing out. All you have to do is put a spotlight on them, and they glow like stained glass.)

The photo shows an old theater in Tennessee, all broken down and decrepit. The homeowners said this picture rallied the local community into saving the theater.

I've tried to find the source of the image, which was one of the more pleasant internet rabbit holes I've gone down lately. It hasn't come up yet though.

Back to the original subject of this post... if you have a special item that needs a matching picture hanger, we can make that happen. Just let us know ahead of time, and send a photo if possible, so we can bring the right tools for the job.

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