Rewrite
Lead ImageFreddie Powell and Rose EastonPhotography by Lewis Teague Wright
In the world of art, the role of a gallerist extends far beyond simply showcasing works. In the case of Rose Easton and Freddie Powell, it is a case of fostering connections and relationships, both with artists and their audiences. Easton curates exhibitions that blur the lines between the sculptural and the spatial, inviting us to rethink the forces – both seen and unseen – that shape the world around us. Meanwhile, Powell, who runs the gallery Ginny on Frederick, has nurtured a crucial space for contemporary artists who engage with identity, language and materiality.
Their latest collaboration, Yay, to have a mouth!, expands their mutual exploration of the body, memory and storytelling into something both playful and profound. Drawing inspiration from Polish artist Alina Szapocznikow’s musings on orality, the exhibition turns the mouth into a site of transformation, both literal and symbolic. Artists like Maggi Hambling and IW Payne probe the visceral body, while Michael Ho experiments with the fluidity of language itself, pushing the boundaries of communication and the spaces voices occupy. For Easton and Powell, this exhibition is more than just a shared project – it’s a reflection of their ongoing dialogue with peers, artists and the broader cultural landscape across London and further afield.
Below, the pair talk about psychoanalysis, collaboration, and the energy of London’s art scene.
Freddie Powell: I started Ginny on Frederick after working at a number of galleries in London – a long stint running the White Cube Bookshop was a highlight.
Rose Easton: I worked at a few galleries and then co-founded [the fashion brand] Phoebe English. In 2021, I opened Moarain House with my friend Tom [Shickle]. Moarain House quickly turned into Rose Easton, officially in late 2022.
FP: And the rest is history!
RE: Taste is obviously individual and subjective. At the gallery, for Liam [Newnham] and I, who we show comes down to our shared sensibilities and the artists we connect with best. The process starts with the work – if we see something that excites us, that’s the first step. Early on, I had some great advice: “Don’t try to define your programme too soon. Just go with what feels right. Years later, you’ll see a unifying theme.”
Looking back, I’d say the consistent thread in our programme is about artists who think sculpturally, whether or not they’re making actual sculptures. It’s about considering space as a whole and building a world within it, though that terminology is a bit overused these days.
FP: At Ginny on Frederick, it’s well-documented that the beginnings of the gallery was just me showing my friends’ work. Over time, it’s developed into something much bigger, but those roots are still there.
Taste is this cyclical thing – it can be a bit of a trap. I think you’re absolutely right. Whoever gave you that advice about not defining an artist too early – I hope it was me – was spot on. I’m really fascinated by the idea of the artist as a magician, an operator – there are so many roles an artist can take, and that’s what excites me.
I still want to know artists on a personal level. Not every gallery operates that way, but I do. For me, it’s never just about the work. If it were, I’d be doing a different job. I think what we’re talking about is professionalism. And, honestly, I’m always learning. There are different ways to be professional, and you learn that from your peers, from artists, and just by growing up. Starting a business – especially a gallery, whether it’s you and me, or our peers like Brunette Coleman or Ilenia – is a wild experience. We’re all figuring it out as we go.
“I still think London is more generous than anywhere else when it comes to emerging galleries” – Rose Easton
RE: Thinking of the impact that London has on the art world, the conditions for artists and all art workers have become more difficult: higher living costs, unaffordable studios and fewer arts jobs. These challenges are well-documented. I still think London is more generous than anywhere else when it comes to emerging galleries. When I talk to colleagues in Paris or New York, London seems to have an openness and flexibility that’s rare. Maybe it comes from a historical DIY spirit?
FP: London just has a lot of energy right now. There are so many galleries under five years old, and we don’t necessarily feel too competitive with each other. When people ask how the art world has changed since we started, I feel like we’ve only just begun. Things haven’t changed drastically yet, and honestly, we don’t want them to move too fast. But a more interesting question is: how do all these galleries sustain themselves? That’s what I want to figure out. Part of that is collaboration, which is just more exciting to me. That’s why working on a show together like this is so meaningful.
RE: It’s about figuring out how we can all sustain this in the long run, rather than it just being a fleeting moment. Longevity comes from the whole ecosystem growing together. I think many of the galleries that have opened in the past few years are run by just one or two people. That can be isolating, even lonely at times. So the idea of coming together, creating a support network, and working in partnership is so much more exciting than operating in isolation.
Our collabrative show, Yay, to have a mouth!, comes from a place of play, bouncing ideas back and forth. The title comes from an article by Jan Verwoert that profiled Alina Szapocznikow, who perhaps made the ultimate mouth sculptures of all time.
FP: I’ve collaborated with galleries abroad – in Shanghai, Seoul and Munich – but I always felt like I should have started with London first. When we talked about this at an art fair last year, it felt like the right time to make it happen.
“I still want to know artists on a personal level … For me, it’s never just about the work” – Freddie Powell
RE: I was listening to lots of Jamieson Webster podcasts and have been reinvested in specific themes around psychoanalysis with the art and literature I’ve been reading lately. I organise Worms Book Club, and it’s something the group keep returning to again and again.
FP: Times of collapse always lead us back there. Sex and psychoanalysis!
RE: Once we started conversations with artists, it was clear that the show resonated both within our peer group but intergenerationaly as well.
FP: The show begins with the mouth but then becomes much wider, to think about orality more generally, and the way in which memory and interior worlds are disseminated through storytelling, in whatever form that may take. The mouth is simply the portal, both in life and for the show!
RE: In terms of the artists, Maggi Hambling and IW Payne are thinking about the mouth as an orifice and the physical body, whereas Michael Ho is working through oral traditions and the slippage of language. Other highlights are Phillip Gabriel, showing in London for the first time, whose work looks at shapeshifting characters from film and Jenkin Van Zyl’s iconic cake sculptures, which evoke both desire and revulsion in a really incredible way.
FP: These conversations lead to more conversations – it should be a beginning, not an ending.
RE: Ditto. You’ve summed it up perfectly.
Yay, to have a mouth! with Ginny on Frederick is on show at Rose Easton in London until 29 March 2025.
in HTML format, including tags, to make it appealing and easy to read for Japanese-speaking readers aged 20 to 40 interested in fashion. Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), translating all text, including headings, into Japanese. Retain any existing
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Lead ImageFreddie Powell and Rose EastonPhotography by Lewis Teague Wright
In the world of art, the role of a gallerist extends far beyond simply showcasing works. In the case of Rose Easton and Freddie Powell, it is a case of fostering connections and relationships, both with artists and their audiences. Easton curates exhibitions that blur the lines between the sculptural and the spatial, inviting us to rethink the forces – both seen and unseen – that shape the world around us. Meanwhile, Powell, who runs the gallery Ginny on Frederick, has nurtured a crucial space for contemporary artists who engage with identity, language and materiality.
Their latest collaboration, Yay, to have a mouth!, expands their mutual exploration of the body, memory and storytelling into something both playful and profound. Drawing inspiration from Polish artist Alina Szapocznikow’s musings on orality, the exhibition turns the mouth into a site of transformation, both literal and symbolic. Artists like Maggi Hambling and IW Payne probe the visceral body, while Michael Ho experiments with the fluidity of language itself, pushing the boundaries of communication and the spaces voices occupy. For Easton and Powell, this exhibition is more than just a shared project – it’s a reflection of their ongoing dialogue with peers, artists and the broader cultural landscape across London and further afield.
Below, the pair talk about psychoanalysis, collaboration, and the energy of London’s art scene.
Freddie Powell: I started Ginny on Frederick after working at a number of galleries in London – a long stint running the White Cube Bookshop was a highlight.
Rose Easton: I worked at a few galleries and then co-founded [the fashion brand] Phoebe English. In 2021, I opened Moarain House with my friend Tom [Shickle]. Moarain House quickly turned into Rose Easton, officially in late 2022.
FP: And the rest is history!
RE: Taste is obviously individual and subjective. At the gallery, for Liam [Newnham] and I, who we show comes down to our shared sensibilities and the artists we connect with best. The process starts with the work – if we see something that excites us, that’s the first step. Early on, I had some great advice: “Don’t try to define your programme too soon. Just go with what feels right. Years later, you’ll see a unifying theme.”
Looking back, I’d say the consistent thread in our programme is about artists who think sculpturally, whether or not they’re making actual sculptures. It’s about considering space as a whole and building a world within it, though that terminology is a bit overused these days.
FP: At Ginny on Frederick, it’s well-documented that the beginnings of the gallery was just me showing my friends’ work. Over time, it’s developed into something much bigger, but those roots are still there.
Taste is this cyclical thing – it can be a bit of a trap. I think you’re absolutely right. Whoever gave you that advice about not defining an artist too early – I hope it was me – was spot on. I’m really fascinated by the idea of the artist as a magician, an operator – there are so many roles an artist can take, and that’s what excites me.
I still want to know artists on a personal level. Not every gallery operates that way, but I do. For me, it’s never just about the work. If it were, I’d be doing a different job. I think what we’re talking about is professionalism. And, honestly, I’m always learning. There are different ways to be professional, and you learn that from your peers, from artists, and just by growing up. Starting a business – especially a gallery, whether it’s you and me, or our peers like Brunette Coleman or Ilenia – is a wild experience. We’re all figuring it out as we go.
“I still think London is more generous than anywhere else when it comes to emerging galleries” – Rose Easton
RE: Thinking of the impact that London has on the art world, the conditions for artists and all art workers have become more difficult: higher living costs, unaffordable studios and fewer arts jobs. These challenges are well-documented. I still think London is more generous than anywhere else when it comes to emerging galleries. When I talk to colleagues in Paris or New York, London seems to have an openness and flexibility that’s rare. Maybe it comes from a historical DIY spirit?
FP: London just has a lot of energy right now. There are so many galleries under five years old, and we don’t necessarily feel too competitive with each other. When people ask how the art world has changed since we started, I feel like we’ve only just begun. Things haven’t changed drastically yet, and honestly, we don’t want them to move too fast. But a more interesting question is: how do all these galleries sustain themselves? That’s what I want to figure out. Part of that is collaboration, which is just more exciting to me. That’s why working on a show together like this is so meaningful.
RE: It’s about figuring out how we can all sustain this in the long run, rather than it just being a fleeting moment. Longevity comes from the whole ecosystem growing together. I think many of the galleries that have opened in the past few years are run by just one or two people. That can be isolating, even lonely at times. So the idea of coming together, creating a support network, and working in partnership is so much more exciting than operating in isolation.
Our collabrative show, Yay, to have a mouth!, comes from a place of play, bouncing ideas back and forth. The title comes from an article by Jan Verwoert that profiled Alina Szapocznikow, who perhaps made the ultimate mouth sculptures of all time.
FP: I’ve collaborated with galleries abroad – in Shanghai, Seoul and Munich – but I always felt like I should have started with London first. When we talked about this at an art fair last year, it felt like the right time to make it happen.
“I still want to know artists on a personal level … For me, it’s never just about the work” – Freddie Powell
RE: I was listening to lots of Jamieson Webster podcasts and have been reinvested in specific themes around psychoanalysis with the art and literature I’ve been reading lately. I organise Worms Book Club, and it’s something the group keep returning to again and again.
FP: Times of collapse always lead us back there. Sex and psychoanalysis!
RE: Once we started conversations with artists, it was clear that the show resonated both within our peer group but intergenerationaly as well.
FP: The show begins with the mouth but then becomes much wider, to think about orality more generally, and the way in which memory and interior worlds are disseminated through storytelling, in whatever form that may take. The mouth is simply the portal, both in life and for the show!
RE: In terms of the artists, Maggi Hambling and IW Payne are thinking about the mouth as an orifice and the physical body, whereas Michael Ho is working through oral traditions and the slippage of language. Other highlights are Phillip Gabriel, showing in London for the first time, whose work looks at shapeshifting characters from film and Jenkin Van Zyl’s iconic cake sculptures, which evoke both desire and revulsion in a really incredible way.
FP: These conversations lead to more conversations – it should be a beginning, not an ending.
RE: Ditto. You’ve summed it up perfectly.
Yay, to have a mouth! with Ginny on Frederick is on show at Rose Easton in London until 29 March 2025.
and integrate them seamlessly into the new content without adding new tags. Ensure the new content is fashion-related, written entirely in Japanese, and approximately 1500 words. Conclude with a “結論” section and a well-formatted “よくある質問” section. Avoid including an introduction or a note explaining the process.
