“ILevel has the manpower to hang your art collection and the brainpower to chat about it over tea.”
–The Franklin Report
Since the beginning 25 years ago, ILevel founder David Kassel has hired only visual artists to work on his top notch team of professional picture hangers. Many evenings and weekends you’ll find ILevel art installers in their studios engaged with their medium, whether it’s sculpture, painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, or collage. How does this practice give ILevel an edge among New York City professional art installation companies? When I surveyed our designer/installers, I heard five reasons you should hire artists to hang your pictures:
We Are Visual Thinkers: We’re those people you think of as having “an eye.” We have perspective and opinions about how artwork should be displayed and viewed. We’re passionate about art and design, and we’re always thinking visually. We have an understanding of color and composition that is sometimes different than an interior designer/decorator’s. “I’m asked all the time about what frame color would work with a certain piece, or in a certain room. To answer these questions I draw on my art education and talk about things like color harmonies and disharmonies.”
We Know What We’re Handling: As artists, we have a unique perspective regarding the meaning, history, and lineage of the objects we handle. “We can intelligently talk your ear off about most of the art that we see on our projects.” We also understand how pieces are constructed, so we’re aware of the strengths and weaknesses of materials and how to handle and install them safely. ‘How did the artist do this?’ comes up frequently in conversation with clients.
We Are Creative Problem Solvers: Yes, we engage in activities that are typically thought of as creative, like painting and drawing. And importantly, when it comes to art installation, we’re creative thinkers and problem solvers, too. The most rewarding projects are those that provide a challenge and require us to devise an innovative way to solve an installation problem.
We Care About What We’re Handling: We have a deep appreciation for other artists’ work. We understand the amount of time, creativity, and dedication that goes into each and every piece. And we treat each piece like we made it ourselves.
Art is Our Life: Our interest in art has been lifelong. “Clients seem to appreciate that I have an MFA. The educational component, which represents an investment of time and money, seems to help them understand why I’m there doing what I’m doing, and shows that art isn’t simply an interest but a life pursuit.”
The benefits of having artists install your artwork is summed up beautifully in this quote from one of ILevel’s clients:
“ILevel did a spectacular job installing my artwork. Everyone who has seen it has raved about their work. What they did for me was to teach me, very subtly, how to look at art. I saw my collection in an entirely new light. This was a totally unexpected aspect of a very pleasant experience.”
To make an appointment to have one of ILevel’s multi-talented staff members install your art, call 212.477.4319 or email info@ILevel.biz.