About ExhibitABrand
We speak a shared language with dreamers, thinkers and makers to create objects of perfection, worthy of being exhibited.
‘In 2020 and beyond, visual and sensual experiences can help transcend our selves and our troubles. Little pleasures make all the difference.‘
Seeking art, literature, music, scent and nature as inspiration, Exhibit A must be original, exciting, life-enhancing.
The sculptor Gidon Bing
Gidon Bing’s work combines Modernist forms with an exacting process to create painstakingly hand-finished objects.They are sophisticated in their very simplicity. Exhibit A chose Gidon to make the most perfect gin bottle we could imagine.
“We know you will never tire of Gidon’s aesthetic. For us, this pared-back approach is luxury, just like a perfectly cut white cotton shirt.”
Gidon-
“I aim for absolute simplicity then work harder to refine it until I reach the essential form.”
The gin-makers
Simon Wilson and Chris Charteris are very good at making gin. They get gold medals. Exhibit A entrusts them to tailor-make their distinctive London dry recipe because they are supreme flavour craftsmen and exacting enough to create perfection every time.
“The rural distillery is everything you’d expect a boutique New Zealand gin maker’s to be. Up a dirt road, un-groomed hedgerows nestled in a misty green valley. You might get a glimpse of a white manuka flower and the green leaves that make their way into our gin.”
The distillery is at 183 Akatawara road, Reikorangi.
The photographer Samuel Hartnett
is an accomplished architectural and art photographer. Exhibit A’s pre-occupation with libraries was what first drew us in to his work. We love the silent moments he’s shot within public libraries. Graffiti on an old wooden desk. Library shelving that becomes a sculpture. A hole in a patch of dated carpet.
For Exhibit A, Sam hunts out the perfect clay blob and a patch of light on concrete that will disappear in, quite literally, under a minute.
The photographer Mara Sommer
is a highly acclaimed fashion photographer. She took the images of the Exhibit A gin bottle as a piece of abstract art. Her style is fresh, clean and contemporary. She is yet to become a gin drinker.
The photographer Chelsea Wrightson
has a honed taste for all the best things to be found- art, objects, furniture, clothes and cocktails.
Chelsea took Exhibit A’s product shots. She is captured on film sporting the cocktail ring and earring too. She wonders:
“ Can a gin be young, playful but deep & serious all at once?”
The designer Brogen Averill
is integral to Exhibit A’s aesthetic.
He developed our brand by working with the idea of exhibits in a gallery- pieces that are chosen to be shown to a discerning crowd. He also explored an esoteric hint of the courtroom and a very different kind of exhibit (but one we are equally obsessed with). The proof.
Brogen developed the exciting, original and functional packaging for our gin bottles. We even convinced him to work with the Dewey Decimal system. He says ‘damn that’s cool’ quite a lot. He’s right.
“We secretly enjoy watching Brogen physically shudder at the prospect of ugliness and banality’.
Founder
Sara Bruce established Exhibit A in 2020. She’s a socialist who likes champagne & prefers old cabins to castles but only if there’s the right kind of chairs, a fire and an ice cold martini.
Sara lingers in old libraries and categorises all Exhibit A pieces according to the Dewey Decimal system, which she is slowly memorising.
The photographer Nicole Brannen
Nicole has a beautifully considered eye. She can adeptly capture a mood, a dream, a split second of beauty, delicately and without artifice. Nicole works in NZ and London.
Luckily Nicole loves a gin & tonic while lapping up as much afternoon summer sun as possible. ‘I’m continuously inspired by my friends and family. I hope to spend the majority of this summer in close proximity to the beach with all of those dearest to me!’