Up-and-Coming Artistic Director of Rotate Gallery, Freya Raja, on Art Today

In today’s art world, there seems to be a constant battle between following the crowd and dismantling the consensus. It is a community which both uplifts and encourages new talent yet simultaneously clings to the opinions of only a few influential figures sitting at the top of the enormous mountain that is the art world. Nevertheless, over the last few years, a tremendous upheaval from young artists and art professionals has changed the game.

Enter Freya Raja, the Artistic Director of the up-and-coming gallery collective Rotate Gallery. Committed to making the art world more accessible for emerging artists, Rotate Gallery pushes for equal and fair opportunities for their artists. With the catchphrase, “Rotate Gallery wants to provide more avenues to success for emerging artists. Without having to cut an ear off.” Rotate Gallery aims to be that guiding hand to help artists trying to get their start in the commercial art scene.

As a young professional, Freya constantly strives to make this vision a reality. With an impressive academic and professional resume, including accolades from top art establishments such as The Courtauld and Sotheby’s Institute of Art), Freya has an acute knowledge of Art History and the contemporary art world. Now she is ready to make her mark.

In this exclusive with MADE IN BED, Freya shares insights about the mission and vision of Rotate Gallery, her biggest inspirations, and her thoughts on art today.

Freya Raja. Artistic Director, Rotate Gallery.

Ilaria Bevan: Congratulations on the upcoming official launch of Rotate Gallery! Can you share the story of how the gallery came to be founded?

Freya Raja: Tiernan and I were friends talking about my degree and plans for the future. Tiernan, who is the founder of Rotate Gallery, originally had the idea for this business from his experiences growing up in his mother’s pub. There he was privy to the challenges and struggles one faces when trying to stand out in the hospitality sector. After the impacts of COVID-19 and how it destroyed hospitality businesses and artists, and so we wanted to support the future of art and culture.

IB: Can you share more about what your role as Artistic Director entails?

FR: As Artistic Director of Rotate, I manage all the artists and everything to do with them and their work, from choosing successful applicants to comparing different types of nails for fixings to the space’s walls. This role is demanding both practically and mentally. I am constantly challenged by problems I might not have foreseen or predicted. My primary role, however, is mentoring each artist exhibiting with Rotate Gallery as this is their first time navigating their first commercial solo exhibition.

IB: The roster of artists for Rotate Gallery’s first edition is extremely impressive and diverse. How did you come to select these artists? What about their work drew you to them?

FR: All applicants have to be ‘emerging’. Our definition of this term was not based on whether they had already been given a solo show. Instead, I chose artists based on how I believed they would best use the tools Rotate Gallery would provide them with to help them set up for their professional futures. As such, an artist’s aesthetic or visual appeal rarely was considered when deciding who would be successful, nor did personal preference. However, I questioned and evaluated their commercial viability in these unique settings; for example, if the artist’s works were too small, would they get lost in the space? How would they sell? And so on.

Participating artists in Rotate Gallery’s first set of shows. From left to right: Katya Derksens, Jack Mander, Izzy MacCallum, Isaac Pollock, Jack Holme, Fred Forrester and Rachel Hutchinson.

IB: Tell us what visitors can expect at each of the seven upcoming shows.

FR: Visitors can expect a unique, raw and novel take on world views. This is evident in how all the artists also have their individual personal styles—for example, Katya Derksens’ work positions Bridget Riley’s quintessential 1960s geometry in a twenty-first-century context. And Issac Pollock’s figures are reminiscent of Francis Bacon’s work but with an added softened twist that makes them distinctly his own. Another favourite is Izzy MacCallum, whose works appropriate pop motifs in their self-portraits.

IB: If an artist missed the last open call, how might they get involved with Rotate Gallery in the future?

FR: Our next open call will go live in late May, with details available soon. So keep checking our website and social media!

IB: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing young artists today?

FR: Although fine art education creates beautiful and technically skilled artists, it thrusts them into the big bad art world with little to no business education or insight into how they might actually build a profitable and sustainable career. This old ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ expectation has been inefficient and useless since Damien Hirst’s time as a young artist living and working in London.

He was a real trendsetter and innovator as an artist with a distinctly business-minded and entrepreneurial thought process regarding his career. This resulted in artists now having access to support career-wise. Despite this, artists invariably struggle to support themselves through their art-making practice alone until they reach the mid-career stage. As an art professional dealing with artists on a day-to-day basis, I worry about artists becoming deflated before their prime due to the difficulty of forging a financially stable art career in the first place.

IB: What can the art world do better to rectify these issues?

FR: Plain and simple - transparency. The art world ought to be making avenues more accessible by increasing its transparency. Everyone then has a fair shot and a clear understanding.

IB: Why do you think it is essential for art and business to have a relationship?

FR: Art is extremely subjective, and cynically, I believe the easiest way to universalise aesthetic appreciation and define ‘good’ art in today's world is to assign a monetary value. This way, the messages behind essential works of art can be legitimised to a broader, perhaps less theoretically or romantically minded, audience and make a real impact.

IB: You have had a wealth of experience in the art world through your educational background, upbringing in London and past professional endeavours. What has been the best thing you learnt from these experiences?

FR: The best thing I have learnt from my artistic experiences is the importance of compromise. To give and gain in professional relationships, I have had to adapt to the needs of others, concede when I am wrong, and learn to be less headstrong. As a woman in this industry, I started out very protective of myself and worried a lot.

Now, I am more open and receptive to new people and ideas, which is essential to collaborating with my artists and helping them grow. By listening, I can help them the best I can and learn something new about each artist I take on under my wing.

IB: With the recent emphasis on promoting women artists and women art professionals, what do you think the future of the art industry looks like?

FR: Looking at it from a quasi-internal perspective, things are looking up! Sotheby’s recent female artist-only auction, Women Artists, which was held on March 16, 2023, and the subsequent news coverage of the event has provided a lot of much-needed attention to female artists. However, whilst I think the growing status of women in the arts industry is positive, there are still many significant obstacles for female artists that would require a much structural reworking in order to fix them. I hope that Rotate Gallery can contribute - even in a small way - to making these changes by giving female artists a fair start to their careers.

IB: Who is your biggest inspiration in the art world?

FR: Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me knows I love Robert Mapplethorpe. His and Patti Smith’s ardent passion for following their dream of being artists inspires me daily to persevere in adversity. Although poorly received then, Mapplethorpe's photographs opened many doors for queer representation in visual artists.

IB: As someone who is queer and a person of colour, how has your perspective of the art world been affected? How have you found your voice in this space?

FR: The most common response when revealing my mixed ethnicity is, ‘wow, you are so pale, or white or English-looking for someone half Indian.’ Being white-passing and raised in London has led to many questions about the legitimacy of my inherited knowledge and feelings around representation, particularly around the invisibility of artists. It is disheartening to see the lack of voices behind Indian culture in the arts and the stringent ‘qualifications’ necessary to be able to have a voice.

My queer identity has had more positive effects as I have entered into a queer art scene that is very malleable and accepting. It is a space where individual creativity is encouraged, and I feel I have the freedom and place to discover who I am as a queer-identifying person. Of course, there are always times I have been and will continue to be, met with resistance, but I can see meaningful change on the horizon. Similarly, Rotate Gallery has given me an avenue to find my voice as a co-founder and Artistic Director.

IB: How has this impacted the vision of Rotate Gallery, if at all?

FR: Co-founding Rotate Gallery has afforded me an invaluable opportunity to provide mentorship and support previously ostracised communities.

One of our artists, Izzy MacCallum’s works, explores the discovery of their queer identity in such a unique way. They are giving us precious insight into how they find beauty all around them. Their work encapsulates one of the visions of Rotate Gallery. However, I am also concerned with ensuring all artists are celebrated because of their art, not by their identity or how they identify. Although one’s identity always plays a role, I am conscious about this, not pigeonholing artists into one particular social group determined by their background, gender, or sexual orientation.

IB: If you could describe the mission of Rotate Gallery in three words, what would they be?

FR: Revolutionise, support, beguile.

IB: If you could change anything about the art industry, what would it be, and how would you achieve this?

FR: My dream of pursuing an art career originates, selfishly, in my desire to see important works of art up close. I would love it if all culturally significant landmarks and works of art were exhibited internationally before going to private collections after being sold at auction. Art is for the people. It has the power to change lives. I was sure I would never see Tracey Emin’s Bed (1998) - a work close to my heart - after it went into a private collection. But I did. And I want everyone to feel this sensation.

Many thanks to Freya Raja on behalf of MADE IN BED.

To learn more about Rotate Gallery and stay up to date with the latest exhibitions and artist open calls, follow their Instagram, or head to their website.

To learn more about the artists that will be featured in Rotate Gallery’s first set of exhibitions, head to their Instagram pages below:

Rachel Hutchinson (@rachelhutchinsonart)

Izzy MacCallum (@izzymaccart)

Isaac Pollock (@ispol_)

Katya Derksen (@xkxtya)

Jack Mander (@jackmander)

Fred Forrester (@creative_fred)

Jack Holme (@jackvholme)

Ilaria Bevan

Editor in Chief, MADE IN BED