Good Exposure is an Auckland-based creative agency providing a platform for local artists to showcase their talents. The brainchild of Bella Gummer and Indi Martin-Wells, both artists themselves, they have created a space where all art forms are exhibited.
Their second event, Good Exposure Vol. 2, will be featuring live paintings, poetry, projections, music, sculpture and DJ set, as well as close to 40 artists and all work will be available for purchase throughout the evening.
We sat down with the two co-founders as well as some of the artists showing to discuss the importance of events like this in the local art scene.
Good Exposure Co-Founders Bella Gummer and Indi Martin-Wells
FTV: What inspired you to create Good Exposure?
BELLA GUMMER: Good Exposure Vol.2 is a follow-up event from an original exhibition I created and curated in March. It was pretty disorganised and at my old flat, but so many people heard about it and we ended up having about 350 people come through! I wanted to showcase all my friend’s talent, and after the success of the first event, Indi and I decided that was something we wanted to continue to do for other people.
Good Exposure promotes different styles of work, why was it important to create a space that caters to all artistic forms?
BG: I think the art world can be very “cliquey”, and I really want to change that. Diversifying the styles that we exhibit means that we diversify our audience, which I think is really important for a creative’s marketing demographic. It’s also a great learning technique as the type of feedback that they can collect from exhibiting totally varies.
Tell us about the varying artists showing, how did they become involved?
INDI MARTIN-WELLS: Bella and I have admiration for very different styles of art, but the contrast in our taste works perfectly for our vision as curators of Good Exposure. We both chose artists who we thought possess great talent, social awareness, and the reality of being a creative in Auckland – bringing light to subjects that we think are important for our community to address.
BG: A lot of our artist base is from word of mouth or social media, They range from graphic designers to ceramicists, to jewellers, to poets, to painters, to photographers, to sculptors, to cinematographers, to animation artists… The list goes on!
How does Good Exposure Vol. 2 differ from your first event?
BG: It’s like a ‘grown-up’ version of the first event! The first event was a solo project I put together over three weeks under my own name and with a few amazing volunteers. It was rough, raw, and ultimately an exhibition turned house party.
When Indi and I joined together to create Good Exposure Creative Agency, we were able to really pull together our objectives for the company and what we wanted to provide for local artists. The show this weekend has had a lot of time and love put into it. We have around 30 different artists, four poets, four DJs, and an amazing gallery space right in the heart of K Road.
Why did you think there was a need for an event like this?
BG: As artists ourselves, we have experienced, and still do, the struggle of financing our passions. We’re constantly told by society that our talents aren’t worthy of a market and that we should keep art as our “hobby”. Creating events like this means that we can give a platform to creatives to showcase their work and experience what it’s like to have their work seen and appreciated, and hopefully, bought.
IM-W: It is hard as an emerging artist in Auckland to become a part of exhibitions without knowing someone In the art community. So with Good Exposure, we want creatives of all styles and backgrounds to feel comfortable to be able to approach! That’s what we are here for, to give everyone an opportunity to have ‘Good Exposure’!
Has art always been part of your life?
IM-W: I have always been an artist – my first exhibition was at the age of five. My parents always supported my creativity and I excelled in art all my years throughout school. When I left high school I decided I couldn’t make a career as an artist, so I went to study geology and anthropology at Otago University – which is where my passion and excitement for the natural world was born.
I didn’t pursue geology, so I tried studying Fashion Design at AUT. I loved it, but after learning all about the repercussions of the industry, and how it damages our planet, I decided this also wasn’t for me. I fell back into painting, and I managed to combine my passion for the earth and art together, which is why I now primarily paint landscapes of our beautiful earth, built from my memory and from reality.
BG: Earlier, I was more engulfed in music. When I was 14 a boy I really liked asked me if I was into art and I said I was so that he would like me. When I actually started experiencing his and his friends drawing talents I had to push myself so that I would be just as good. Naturally, it became a passion for me, and I’m now completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Elam.
Who are your biggest influencers behind your work?
BG: My art style varies a lot. A recurring theme is the feminist and feminine aspect of it though, and those concepts are usually from my own experiences or social opinions. Artists that I look to a lot when making are Chloe Wise, Tracey Emin, and Louise Bourgeois.
IM-W: Roger Dean, M.C Escher, my homeland – Aotearoa.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb0dsp2lKk2/?taken-by=duneterrace
What’s coming up after Good Exposure Vol. 2 for you?
BG: We have a whole lot in store! We’ve been lucky enough to be given an artist and events residency at Raynham Park Studio for six months and plan to hold frequent events here. We’re definitely looking at doing some smaller shows with carefully chosen themes, as well as some gigs with amazing musicians. Check out our stall at the Little Riot market in Ponsonby on 30th of June, too.
IM-W: First thing’s first: a holiday! Then, more events and showcases soon after.
Rachel Lydia Barker
FTV: What is the inspiration behind the work you are showing at Good Exposure Vol. 2?
Rachel Lydia Barker: I hadn’t prepared anything for the exhibition, and then one day I was in a horrible mood and felt I had something to say so I got painting. It’s all about disguising something sour with something sweet, and the ‘bad mood bunny’ is the mascot!
What does your work aim to convey?
RLB: I used to think it was crucial to constantly reference sexuality and femininity and have a message about the things I care about. Now I just hope it conveys whatever mood I’m in when I’m painting, whether it be sad, seductive etc. Hopefully, that still contains something important for someone, but I don’t want to dictate the importance.
Why are events like Good Exposure Vol.2 important for upcoming artists?
RLB: Many of us don’t have the platform to share our work that we wish for. These days, who you know and who you are is important. I can put my work on Instagram and 200 people might scroll past it, but I can’t get 200 people to get together and go to a gallery to see it in person. Events like this bring together many different artists and audiences and they give us a space to be appreciated in person.
Karlin Morrison Raju
Tell us about your style of work?
Karlin Morrison Raju: After a lot of experimenting over the years my work has landed on some sort of Cubist-inspired mark making style, exploring spaces and figures through line work and areas of patterns. I’m not even sure how to describe it because it’s constantly evolving. I’m going to be painting live during the exhibition so anything could happen, stylistically the work will resemble my current practice, and deal with a similar subject matter
Who are your biggest influencers?
KMR: Stylistically I’m fans of the greats, Picasso and Basquiat etc. More specifically I really vibe with the early Cubist painters such as Leger, Gleizes and Braque, and have recently been feeling what the Futurists were up to especially Boccioni and Severini. My favourite contemporary artist at the moment is Reginald Sylvester ll, he’s been my idol for a while now. In general life terms, I’m inspired by people who aren’t afraid to do something different and commit to it. Passionate people are the ones who make the changes in this world, there’s a big difference between someone with a dream and someone who’s willing to put in the work to make it a reality.
Why are events like Good Exposure Vol.2 important for upcoming artists?
KMR: As an artist, you just wanna share your work with people. If that process can be turned into a celebration of local artists that brings people together to have a good time like at Good Exposure then all the better. Folks like the ones at Good Exposure care just as much about the artists as they do for the community that comes along to the shows, always providing a wholesome, well-curated experience.
Rohan Alice
Tell us about your style of work?
ROHAN ALICE: My work is an obsessive exploration of formal qualities and aesthetics, focusing on letters as objects and the shapes created from the spaces in between them. I work with found surfaces and materials, such as stolen tablecloths, broken rocks and discarded building supplies, and then build a composition that works with the pre-existing colours and marks that they already have. The process of removing meaning from text and then presenting it in a way that only focuses on its formal appearance, and squeezing and warping certain shapes into new frameworks.
Who are your biggest influencers?
RA: Two artists who I look up to are Lesley Dill and Math Bass. They work in quite different ways, however, both their styles are greatly influential to me. The way that Bass is fixated on certain symbols and repeats them continuously in her work is something I can relate to and her 3D objects and installations are definitely an inspiration towards where I want my next body of work to go. Lesley Dill has an amazing way of draping fabrics and painting letters so immaculately, and the way both these artists deal with colour is something I try to do in my own work.
Why are events like Good Exposure Vol. 2 important for upcoming artists?
RA: The events that Good Exposure organize are so important because it puts newer artists out into the community and gives them a chance to show what they can do, whilst also creating the opportunity for them to meet other people with the same goals and interests as themselves. Its an exciting new organization for the art community, with the diverse range of artists and performers included in the shows is so vast that there is something that will interest everyone.
Puffy Lush (a.k.a. Danielle Bishara)
What is the inspiration behind the work you are showing at Good Exposure Vol. 2?
The inspiration came long ago when I began, it was just my obsession with earrings really and wanting to start up a young business for myself. Things like Good Exposure Vol. 2 are awesome perks of this business I have created as I get to be even more creative. The inspiration is basically just myself, PuffyLush. The world of PuffyLush as I see it in a sense. Fruity, soft, loving and happy.
Who are your biggest influencers?
For me, I’m starting to look at a larger idea, a larger setting or scene that my jewellery is a part of. I’m finding influences through Pinterest posts that vary from bubbles and gems to pastel colours. Styles that are influencing me currently are definitely from the eras, ’70s through to the early 2000s.
Aidan Rogers
Tell us about your style of work?
I’ve been working on a number of different projects this year, so my style of shooting I feel varies. More narrative works for clients, but my personal work is basically happenings and compositions that I find visually pleasing and have an urge to show through film.
Who are your biggest influencers?
My biggest influencers are locals. This country is swarming with talent that it baffles me. I had wanted to dabble with Super8 for quite some time but I think Cam Neate’s work really inspired me to kick myself and commit to buying a camera and learn more about the process, I still have much to learn.
Why are events like Good Exposure Vol. 2 important for upcoming artists?
Good exposure is important to upcoming artists, period. I feel new artists find it hard to take the plunge on a solo exhibition and it can be daunting to put yourself out there. Being able to come together and combine with lots of varied art helps a lot.
WHAT: Good Exposure Vol. 2
WHERE: Raynham Park Studios, 145 Karangahape Road, Auckland
WHEN: Sat Jun 23rd, 2018
HOW: Buy tickets from undertheradar.com
