Framed Casual Chic Prints
Among the myriad of sub-genres that have emerged in the art trends of the 21st century, framed casual chic art’s use of exposed patterns, mismatched textures, and highly stylized subject material makes it one of the most popular and widely used for personal decorative use. Artists like Keith Mallett, Ursula Salemink – Roos, Helen Shulman, and Randy Hibberd have helped bring this style to the forefront in the postmodern era of visual art.
“London Calling,” a framed casual chic art print by artist Keith Mallett, uses the universally recognized iconography of one of the most famous cities on Earth to draw the eye and bring up certain associations of culture, style, and design. With the famous Big Ben clock tower looming out over a stylized backdrop inset into an inner frame featuring antiqued maps and typography, the print comes across as somewhere between an elegant postcard and a haphazard collage. Rather than exist as either of those independently, the piece exists somewhere in between.
One of the great strengths of Ursula Salemink – Roos as an artist in the field of framed casual chic art is her use of bold color palettes and extreme variations in texture. Specifically, in her “Seasons I – IV” series, comprised of four separate paintings, the strong lines and intense vertical division is strengthened even further by the dichotomy between sections and their relationship to each other: bold accent colorblocks offset by pale neutrals, soft curving charcoal lines delineated by corresponding geometric shapes, and literal division of the canvas plane into hemispheres by a single segmenting line.
Helen Shulman and Randy Hibberd both explore the more abstract side of the framed shabby chic painting style with their pieces “After All These Years” and “Shades of Sage,” respectively. Both pieces seem to lose all sense of boundary and definition, opting for more impressionistic gestures and palettes that draw attention while remaining cool and understated.