While I enjoy looking at various forms of art, I don’t have a lot of time or money to spend in museums or art galleries. Ether Gallery has been created to showcase the work of artists and sculptors to users like myself.
Overview
Ether Gallery allows user to view the work of artists and sculptors from the UK without ever having to leave their home. The app supplies photos of different formats of art from various feature artists.
The ad-supported app is best used on the iPad, as it allows a larger format view of the featured artwork.
The app features six UK based artists, offering numerous looks at their artwork. Once you tap on an artist’s name, you are taken to a screen that allows you to access their “Biography,” “Inspirations,” and their “Body of Work”.
“Biography” gives the user a glimpse into milestones of the selected artist’s careers, including awards, shows, and other milestones.
“Inspirations” lists the various factors that have acted as influences in the artists works, presented as a word collage. This area provides insight into what has influenced the artist’s body of work.
“Body of Work” is most likely where most users will spend their time. This area allows the user to swipe through large thumbnails of an artist’s body of work. Tapping on a thumbnail allows the user to view pertinent information about the artwork, and the user can then view the artwork full screen.
Verdict
I found the Ether Gallery app to be an excellent resource to view the work of artists previously unknown to myself. The artists all appear to be based in the United Kingdom. However, I looked at this as an opportunity to view artwork I wouldn’t normally be exposed to.
The free app is ad-supported, so there is a bit of an odd experience occasionally, with the contrast of fine art and a banner ad at the bottom of the page for a cartoonish video game. However, the ads were not horribly intrusive, and found that I was still able to enjoy the presentation.
There is a marked lack of animations and transitions. Yet, I found that simply presents an opportunity to view the artworks on their own terms, with no external eye candy.
Rating:4/5[rating:4.0]
Price: FREE – Available for the iPhone and iPad in the App Store. [DIRECT LINK]
Pros:
- An excellent presentation of United Kingdom artists and sculptors.
- A simple presentation that allows you to concentrate on the artwork itself.
- Any app that allows exposure to new artists is always a plus.
Cons:
- You do need to be connected to the Internet to view the featured artwork.
- I would like to see more about the artist’s backgrounds and such in the Biography section, rather than what is basically a timeline of their work.
- The ability to listen to either a built-in soundtrack, or your own music while viewing the artwork would be welcome.
- The ability to share a link to the featured artist’s work with others via social networks would be a welcome touch.
*Note: The above review was commissioned by the developer in accordance with our app review policy, and has been written in an objective, unbiased fashion.
