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Lucca uplights to fi replace. The art of lighting 16
Luke Thomas, design director at John Cullen Lighting, reveals how illuminating art is a specialists skill in itself
ART CAN BE one of the most emotional and powerful elements within our homes, provoking our personal and inspirational thoughts. Lighting plays a key role in how the art is viewed and experienced. A good lighting solution will highlight and enhance these key features, drawing attention to the object of illumination and not to the source of the light. There are three typical approaches to lighting art: Picture lights; framing projector; directional ceiling spots. Picture lights are much maligned. The general consensus is that they are big and bulky, light the wall and not the art, do not illuminate the bottom section of the canvas and are “too traditional”. With the advancement of LED, there have been some huge improvements in picture lights.
The scale of the LED technology means that the physical form of the light can be much reduced, making it more discreet. Tiny optics can also be positioned over each LED chip to focus and control the light effect, pushing it down the full length of the canvas. A range of fi nishes can be found, either to match the frame of the art, but the most discreet is to colour match the fi tting to the wall. The result: an almost invisible light and a perfectly lit picture. Possibly the most magical and mysterious solution is a framing projector. A stencil is created for the light which will accurately ‘frame’ the picture, meaning only the artwork is lit. It’s an even effect across the canvas, so almost appears back- lit. Choosing the correct light source is important - if it is possible to conceal it
within the ceiling, this will add to the drama. Projectors give a gallery quality effect, but are the most costly choice. Ceiling-recessed or surface-mounted directional spotlights can be a brilliant solution. The benefi t of using a spot is that you can hit right into the centre of the canvas and really lift it off the wall. Getting the position correct is key and will usually require coordination during the design phase. Where will the art go? What size will it be? A certain amount of adjustment can be made post installation, however – beam angles can be swapped to allow for narrow or wide spreads of light. Lenses can also be fi tted to control and refi ne the lighting effect. For a glass-fronted piece where there is a chance of glare, a honeycomb lens can be fi tted to minimise any discomfort. Ceiling lights often provide a good amount of general illumination that’s refl ected back into the room as well as highlighting the art. Downlights are fantastic for sculpture. Illuminating it directly from above creates extreme contrast, giving a very dramatic effect. When selecting a light source, one of the most important characteristic to be mindful of is the colour rendering properties. This is a measure of how accurately a fi tting will display colours in relation to a perfect light source (such as the sun). It is so crucial when viewing art that you see the true colour of the medium used. Bright shades should be vivid and almost alive but with the wrong lighting they can appear fl at, dull and lifeless. One scale to measure colour rendering is the Colour Rendering Index (CRI). It is represented as a number between 0 and 100 – the higher the value, the more accurately it displays colours. For good colour rendering, light sources with a CRI of 90 or above should be used.
Polespring 50 lit artwork. The new Wallace picture light.
johncullenlighting.com
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