Gallery Seventeen

I have had around 12 posters framed here over the years, mostly from Wolfgangs Posters in the US. A good frame makes a huge difference to how the poster looks and if these things are going on the wall they need to look good. The people at Gallery 17 are very helpful in discussing choice of frame / card setting etc and I have always been pleased with the results. Today I picked up a Joe Jackson poster they framed and it looks great. Worth the money and highly recommended.
Mar 22nd, 2023

Pictures being framed
Dec 29th, 2022

Aug 6th, 2022

Very good framers, patiently offered options and with a kind, knowledgable approach. Excellent final product. Also lots of really good artworks available in the shop.
May 17th, 2022

A very stressful and upsetting experience. I took three prints in. In hindsight I shouldve just taken one to see how well they could do framing as I hadnt used them before. The woman I met in the shop was great. Helped me choose frames and mounts that worked for the prints. That bit worked. It was the framing that didnt. My first visit back to the shop to pick them up ended with disappointment. All three frames had something wrong with them. The first print I checked still had the framers pencil marks visible on the mount, used to line up the print in the frame. The other two prints had marks on them that had not been there when I took them in. It was necessary for the framers to ask the artist to reprint, sign and number them again to replace the damaged prints - something that the artist could have refused to do, which would have left me with damaged prints through no fault of my own. This should have been deeply embarrassing to the framers. On the second attempt from the framers to fulfil my order, they delivered the first print to my home. All looked good then I noticed a dent in the bottom of the frame. It was only small, but at nearly 500 per frame it really should have been perfect. In addition to the dent there were traces of eraser debris that must have been used to remove pencil marks trapped behind the glass of the frame. This frame came back to me again a few weeks later. The dent was gone but it was obvious that they had inexpertly replaced the bottom section of the frame only. There were large gaps at the corners between the bottom section and the two side sections. Nothing fitted together properly now. So this frame was taken back to the framers for a third time. It was returned to me a couple of weeks later. This time there were gaps at the top corner joints of the frame. The gallery made excuses about it twisting in transit but that was after the corners had been reinforced. And so it went back again. I have actually lost count of the number of times I had to complain. At one point I asked the gallery to return the prints to me and give me a refund as I knew by now they were not capable of finishing the frames to an acceptable standard. Maybe it was the size of the prints that they couldnt handle. There was clearly something very wrong. The other two prints that had been marked had to be reprinted, signed, stamped and numbered by the artist. When they came back the prints had ripples/undulations in them that were visible inside the frames. This might have been due to tape only used on the corners. It is possible to see that the prints are not flat in the frames when the light is reflected off the prints in the frames. Also one of the frames had the hanging cord at the wrong end of the frame.. As the prints are signed it is clear to see which way round they should hang. Finally, after having taken the prints to the gallery on August 30 2022 and after paying nearly 1400, I finally have them on the walls at the end of January 2023. Theyre still not great/up the standard that I expected for the price. The rippled prints are somewhat flatter but I noticed one of the mounts hasnt been cut straight and there appears to be a small scalpel knick in the print. Also there is visible wear and tear on the prints from excessive and repeated handling to correct the multiple issues caused by the incompetent framing work. I have emailed the gallery and their response was that I had checked them in the gallery before they delivered them. That is true but I was looking for the other mistakes to have been fixed. I wasnt expecting a poorly cut mount. This is something that takes time to notice. I replied asking them if they think a poorly cut mount is ok. They didnt reply. They have never offered me any discount - just many excuses such as were as upset as you are about this. That simply is nowhere up to the standard that I expected from them. I feel compelled to write this review to warn any people considering getting their prints framed there.
Feb 23rd, 2023