Space 'art' prices reach for the stars

Is it abstract art? Is it a scientific photograph? Art galleryvisitors in London don't care - they're prepared to pay up topounds 1,000 for limited-edition, large-scale prints ofhigh-quality images like this.

The rush to buy will begin on Tuesday, when the Blue Gallery inWalton Street, London, begins a month-long exhibition of abstractimages with a difference: they are all of real objects. Each wasproduced by the Hubble space telescope, orbiting 380 miles aboveEarth.

The 13 pictures in the exhibition are each available as framedphotographs more than a metre square. Prices start at pounds 595and go up to pounds 995 for those like this, which shows a sunsetover the rings of Saturn. But get there and make your bid early:there are only five copies of each picture.Giles Baker-Smith, one of the gallery's directors, expects to doa roaring business. "Last time we had an exhibition like this, lastsummer, we sold all 45 prints."The Hubble exhibition, which runs until 19 July, is a departurefrom the Blue Gallery's normal fare. "We're usually a paintinggallery, for abstract art. Most of our artists are under 40 - threehave been shortlisted for the NatWest painting prize."But the Hubble pictures, which have received widespread coveragein the media since the telescope was fixed in 1993, fascinated him."Ever since I saw some of the first ones I've thought that theyrelate quite well to abstract painting," said Mr Baker-Smith."Recently there's been more convergence between art and science.These pictures work on several levels: as a picture, first, butalso because they are images telling of extraordinary distances.They are literally awe-inspiring."As the famous British science-fiction writer Arthur C Clarkewrote in a letter of support: "First look and enjoy - later, thinkabout the implications."Last year Mr Baker-Smith wrote to the US space agency Nasa,which owns the copyright on the pictures, proposing an exhibition.Nasa was delighted with the idea, and last summer the first suchexhibition proved hugely popular."We were getting up to 150 people a day coming in to view them.Most galleries are happy to get 10 people," said Mr Baker-Smith.The exhibition starting this week contains new images."The sort of people who come aren't the sort who would normallycome to a contemporary gallery," he said. It could be that foronce, science will have done art a favour.Ironically, anyone with an Internet connection could view allthe pictures for free (at Nasa's web site http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/ Subject.html). But that preview of the show would be on asmall, flickering computer screen. In the gallery, even thesmallest of the pictures will be a metre on each side, and thelargest is 1.62 metres by 1 metre."We had to be very careful about which images we chose," hesaid. "On some of them, as you blow them up larger, the pixellation{the digital "grains" of the original image} becomes clearer. We'vehad to be sure that the images are very high resolution."At the same time as this exhibition, the Science Museum is alsodisplaying a set of large-format pictures from the Hubbletelescope.However, despite the high level of interest, Mr Baker-Smiththinks that he will not repeat the show. "I know that people wouldlike us to go on and on, but I don't want to milk it dry," he said.