How to Make Your Own DIY Josef Albers Wall Art Home Hacks

Too hot to go outside and need a crafty project? This past weekend, I finally got sick of my boring white wall with nothing on it and it was waaaay too heated to do anything (aside from laying on the couch and eating a box of Popsicles), so I dragged a friend to Ikea and the art store for some crafty hour. It was probably the first time in about 2 or 3 years that I've done something artsy without the aid of a computer (sad but true).

So here we go...I have always loved Josef Albers since taking a course in Art History, and I also loved the idea of being completely OCD on at least one wall of my house. Instead of blowing cash on a few generic art prints or poster repros, I decided to take up the X-acto blade myself.

What You Need

Equipment [OR] Tools

X-acto blade
IKEA Ribba Frame
Color construction paper
Self healing mat
Mounting spray

Instructions

1. Preparation: All you need is a Ribba frame (from Ikea), some construction paper, an X-acto blade (a self-healing mat helps too), and some kind of adhesive to mount the paper.

I opted for rubber cement dry-mount, but in retrospect, I'd probably suggest a spray mount as the rubber cement will discolor the paper.

2. Plan out the colors first (any combination that will fit your decor scheme) before starting cutting. Need inspiration? Why not use the source himself and mimic Josef Albers' own color combinations from his gallery of work. There's no right or wrong; mix complementary colors or go for sharp contrast. Whatever best suits your personality and decor.

3. Begin cutting pieces. We use a 11"x14" IKEA Ribba frame as the outlying borders, cutting a trio of square pieces, with the biggest square at 9.5" x 9.5"; the middle at 7.5"x7.5"; and the smallest at 5.5" x 5.5". Glue one ontop of another and then mount onto a neutral board or an additional 4th color inside the frame. Happy crafting!

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Originally posted on September 4, 2007

(Images: Grace Hsiu)

Comments (14)

Sophisticated and simple...nice!

Beautiful! Thanks for passing on the great idea!

Really pretty, but won't the construction paper fade?

Looks great! I would suggest getting small pieces of the non-fade bulletin board paper from a teacher supply store, though, or the color will fade pretty quickly. But I really like it!

Can I be the one voice of dissent who kind of hates it when people rip off great artists (even if this is, in fact, very well done....)

"Rip off" is semantics. Art, music, decorating, it's all just uniquely derivative of something someone else already did. Unless you're copying exactly and trying to make money from it, I have no problem with incorporating your own expression of a great idea into your home.

i did something similar to this, but with circle shapes

Funny timing: there's some car commercial that's been on lately where a multi-colored concentric square shape hops into different parts of the car (weird, I know), but it keeps making me want to reread Albers' book The Interaction of Colr

you're not alone HLI. i would rather see a home filled with oil paintings from goodwill than posters of famous paintings.

I liked Albers' photograph collages on the link. It would be nice to do something similar for my own Brooklyn loft, since it's a commercial live/work space with a distinctly Bauhaus feel, the originals are out of my price range, and something more specific to where I live would have more personal value to me, at least. These photographs from the public library are what I have in mind:

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=100160&word=

I love Albers and think these are great. I do hope they don't fade quickly.

I will fully admit that I needed some art for my walls and one rainy Saturday painted some canvas I had laying around. I now have vaguely Rothko-esque living room paintings.