Creeping quietly through white-walled galleries isn't the only way to experience art these days. Ukanvas, set up in 2006 by Jason Bradley and Sam Austin, is on a mission to challenge art-world conventions by acting as an online showcase and salesroom for a community of international artists working on canvas.
The company has proved sufficiently successful to expand beyond the internet, opening its first premises in Nottingham this weekend.
The owners prefer to describe the space as a showroom rather than a gallery, stating that its primary purpose is to raise the profile of the website rather than sell the artists' limited-edition works directly (though there is the possibility of evolving the space into a shop in the future).
It's browsing only at the moment, but the fascinating pieces featured in the current exhibition are well worth checking out. They include abstract graphic design from Norwegian artist Torjan Rood Vasveit and Toronto-based illustrator Joe Hambleton's surreal, dystopian scenes. Greek artist Georgios Xanthos has created dreamlike, so-called 'Vectorgasmic' characters across a series of works and Denmark-based Naja Conrad-Hansen's work also uses repetition to hypnotic effect.
In addition to the current roster, any aspiring artists wishing to join the Ukanvas community can apply to be featured on the website by uploading four titled examples of their work.
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