Art: stainless steel metal sheets for art installations and sculptures

The choice of materials for art projects, such as sculptures, wall art and art installations, is almost unlimited. Numerous installations and art objects are made from materials such as:

• Stone
• Wood
• Steel
• And other metals

In recent years, artists such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Arik Levy and others have discovered stainless steel as an ideal material for art projects in its variety of forms and surfaces.

They successfully use inox metal sheets, which enable the creation of art projects with unique effects and impressions, in the realisation of their fascinating and impressive artistic works.

mirrorINOX: combining artistic ambitions with new technologies and craftsmanship

These last years of working with artists have proved to us many times that stainless steel is the ideal metal for art sculptures, installations and other art applications:

• Wall art on buildings, in museums, airports, etc.
• Indoor sculptures in malls, business centres, hotels
• Outdoor installations in parks, squares, or on streets

Therefore, the state-of-the-art equipment and stainless steel surface treatment technologies used by mirrorINOX are also specially configured for these requirements.

For instance, we designed and built a unique mirror-polishing line for a renowned artist who needed mirror-polished stainless steel plates for his largest and most spectacular work. No other surface manufacturer worldwide was able to produce metal sheets in such dimensions and quality, because a machine of this size did not exist before we created it.

This is just one example showing that mirrorINOX takes on the challenges of artists and implements them with motivation and passion in terms of consulting, development of solutions, manufacturing of inox and other metal sheets and elaboration of surface concepts.

Why stainless steel and art go so well together: idea, design and material

Stainless steel is an extremely versatile material that can be processed and formed in a variety of ways. Its surface can also be treated and refined using a large number of methods, such as:

• Gloss polishing
• Mirror polishing
• Design rolling
• Bead blasting (sand and glass)
• PVD/TiN-coated
• Colouring
• Etc.

It is a strong, sustainable, environmentally friendly and durable material that can be used both indoors and outdoors. Stainless steel is much more reflective than any other material and has a certain authenticity and sensuality in its visual appearance and haptics.

Inox steel is therefore a highly suitable metal for art objects and installations.

Metal sheets for artwork – mirrorINOX leads the way in stainless steel installations and sculptures

The number and variety of enquiries and orders for inox metal plates that mirrorINOX receives from artists all over the world reflects, on the one hand, artists’ vast creativity and, on the other hand, the versatility and performance of our manufacturing, products and finishes:

• Stainless steel metal sheets for smaller art objects and individual pieces in residential homes and gardens
• Larger volume projects of unique materials for artworks in public spaces, temporary installations, large sculptures for squares, parks and museums of metropolises worldwide
• Custom-made stainless steel plates polished and/or PVD/TiN-coated on one or both sides for artworks starting at 2 square metres up to individual sheets measuring 14,973 x 3,347 x 16.0 mm and a single weight of 6,415 kg (!) in Perfect Mirror No.10® quality
• Polished stainless steel plates of a total weight of over 60 tons for a single metal sculpture
• PVD/TiN coating and nanoINOX® coating of several tens of thousands of stainless steel bells in various sizes and colours

These are just a few examples of the artistic projects for which mirrorINOX has supplied mirror-polished, bead-blasted, grit-polished or brushed and PVD/TiN- or nanoINOX®-coated stainless steel sheets, plates and other parts.