Exhibition/Static Show Evaluations

The exhibitions I've chosen to evaluate are:

- The IMATS

- The UMAE

- 12 Shoes For 12 Lovers

I chose to look at these three exhibitions/static shows because they're all very industry-specific and, except for the shoes exhibition, I have experienced of all of them so that's some primary research right there. The IMATS and UMAE are both a lot more high-profile than our humble college exhibitions but they all serve the same purpose and bring in potential customers to view your work, so it'll be good to compare them all and see what similarities and differences there are.
Evaluation time.

12 Shoes for 12 Lovers by Sebastian Errazuriz 2013

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz found his inspiration for this exhibition, which was on display at the Melissa Pop-Up art exhibition in Miami in 2013, from his 12 previous relationships.  Each 3D printed shoe depicts a woman from these relationships and her overall character. 

The exhibition itself was very simple, with white walls, white floors, and white pedestals upon which the shoes were presented. I think this was a really good idea though, because it forces all the attention onto the shoes and makes sure there are no distractions so you can't help but lose yourself in his work. Each shoe is accompanied by a picture (most of them are pictures of the women on which the shoes are based but a few were recreated due to lack of actual photographs) and a short piece of text explaining the shoe's name and their relationship.

I think that I should mirror this in my exhibition by making my table as uncluttered and organised as I can, with specifically chosen objects placed carefully onto it so as to draw attention to each of them individually and not let them blur together and become just "stuff". 

The International Make-up Artist Trade Show (IMATS) 2014

Baby's first IMATS (2011)

The IMATS is basically my favourite thing/place/weekend in the whole wide world. I've been to it 4 years in a row and I don't plan on breaking that streak EVER. 
It's a trade show so tonnes of MUAs, wigmakers, sfx artists, and other industry professionals come to showcase their work, make contacts, and see what new products and tools are on the market.

There are stalls where popular Make-up brands sell their products for discount prices, talks and demos where big names in the industry like Alex Box and Neil Gorton apply make-up, bodypaint and/or prosthetics to a live model and explain their processes as they do it, and prize draws and competitions where you can enter to win kit-essential products or workshops with industry professionals.

Some of the brands/artists that sell their products at the IMATS include:

-MAC
-Inglot
-Sugarpill
-Screenface
-NYX
-Mouldlife
-PSComposites
-Neill Gorton (Neill's Materials)
-Eve Pearl
-Kryolan
-BenNye
-NARS
-Stargazer
-EmJ

-MistAir
-Temptu
-Eldora
-Crown Brush UK
-Bloody Marvellous
-FaceLace
-Make Up For Ever

And loads more so it's an unmissable event for up-and-coming MUAs to stock up their kits and make contacts in the industry.

 
There are also displays of prosthetics and costumes from different Films or TV shows along the back wall, which I found very helpful when thinking about my exhibition. Most of the pieces had little cards under them to explain what they were, when they were made, and what they were used in.

 I think this would be a really good idea to bring to my exhibition because it was quite hard to know what the ones without cards were for and I don't want the same confusion in my exhibition. 

I think I'll make my cards to fit with the theme of my exhibition with matching colours and whatnot, and have them say what the piece/picture is, when I made it, what assessment/project it was for, and maybe -in the case of the prosthetic I plan to display- what it is made of.

Oh hey, look who it is ;)

 

The United Make-up Artist Expo (UMAE) 2015

The UMAE is basically a smaller version of the IMATS, with the same kind of layout and most of the same brands selling their products. Like the IMATS, it features live models and demos, so it's definitely worth attending. 

I found that it had a much more relaxed vibe to it than the IMATS, probably because it's a lot smaller and not as many peope go to it, but I think this worked in its favour because I had a lot more time to actually look at the displays and models. While, obviously, I hope that lots of people come to my exhibition, I also hope that it's not too crowded and busy because then nobody can really have a good look at my work and I won't be able to talk to anyone or give out my business cards.

From evaluating these three Exhibitions/Static Shows, I know that I want to make sure my table isn't too crowded, that everything stands out enough, and to include small cards in front of each item on display to explain what it is and have some detail about it.