There are many different ways to display art and photographs in a museum or gallery.
Galleries and museums display exhibits of paintings and photographs in different ways, depending on the type of art and how they want visitors to view the artwork. Several different systems involving horizontal tracks or channels and vertical cables or rods to carry the frames allow for flexible arrangements of photos and paintings on a wall or elsewhere in the space.
Cable/Rod Picture Hanging System
This solution comprising vertical cables or rods suspended from metal top rails at the ceiling is useful for museums and art galleries that don't want to put holes in their walls. The cables or rods support adjustable hooks that carry the picture frames. This display system allows the paintings and photos to float out from the wall slightly, giving each piece a somewhat three-dimensional quality.
Tension Cable/Rod Suspended Displays
This versatile suspension method allows display of photos or art off of the wall at any height. Cables or rods running from ceiling to floor or from wall to wall are tightened in tension. Hooks or clamps hold the frames, which can be moved freely along the cables. The ceiling-to-floor version of this system allows the artwork to be displayed anywhere in the gallery, not just along the walls. With select use of low-voltage lighting, the slim cables can be made to "disappear" so the art appears to float in space, which can provide a surreal effect in the gallery.
Track Mounted Photograph Displays
While this system works for paintings, it is best used for photographs displayed on a wall in a large group. Cables and rods are tightened between two channels, one on the ceiling and one on the floor. The cables and rods also can be mounted wall to wall or freely suspended only from the ceiling. Photos are then hung in columns and rows by means of various fittings that can accommodate different sizes of cables and rods and just about any frame. In this system the cables and rods can support a large amount of weight.
