Spotlight: Joséphine-May Bailey

In this edition of our Spotlight series, we caught up with Josephine-May Bailey (she/her), a Curator, Arts Writer, and Art Historian specialising in Contemporary Art and Feminist Theory.

She is currently Director of Sales at gallery rosenfeld and has founded the “8 Vine Yard” residency and project space, which runs alongside her role at the gallery. The residency offers career artists subsidised, spacious studio spaces in central London for an intensive eleven-week programme, culminating in a two-week exhibition in the main gallery space.

Josephine is also preparing several high-profile shows across Europe for summer 2025. Previously, she served as Director and Curator at Pictorum Gallery, and she has curated over 25 exhibitions across the UK while supporting more than 150 international artists. Her work includes project-specific exhibitions at institutions such as the Barbican—most notably the Rebel Rebel exhibition by Soheila Sokhanvari—and roles at Christie’s, Timothy Taylor Gallery, and Gagosian.

Josephine holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Art History from Christ Church, Oxford. She further contributes to the art world through catalogue essays, exhibition texts, press releases, reviews, and artist biographies.

We spoke to Joséphine about the process of starting her own residency, self-publishing through Substack and the highlights of her curatorial career so far… 

Where did your fascination with art and art history begin?

I think for me it started off as an interesting intellectual pursuit, something academic. I liked going to the big museums and going to the National Gallery and beginning to understand why something was made, how it was made, and how the history, politics and gender studies all intercepted. I was lucky enough to grow up in London so all of those things were at my doorstep.

My dad, who passed away when I was very young, was an artist. I mean - he had a full-time day job, but I grew up with his paintings all around my house and it was a thing that I connected to as a child. So as a result, I really wanted to get involved in the art world and see where that fascination came from.

Then I think it surpassed that, after I studied it and loved the research side of things, when I started to meet artists. It was from that point when I got to engage with a completely different side, the more real contemporary side, that I knew that this was something that really spoke to me. I wanted to make it my full-time passion and work and let it consume my life as I have been doing for the past six years.

So yeah, I think it was really that human connection that I developed when meeting artists, getting access to the studio and seeing that side of things that really cemented my love for art alongside the academic aspects of it.

Congratulations on At the Edge of All Things which just finished up last week, and a big congratulations in general about starting 8 Vine Yard. How did you go about founding the residency and what made you want to start your own residency?

I was the director of a gallery in London a few years ago, and I set up a residency there. We had an empty basement and a month spare so I just very quickly decided to make it happen. We just put it out there, got people in, and really enjoyed doing it. In my wider circle in London I also know a lot of people who run residences, like Good Eye Projects and Fores Projects, and so I've been lucky enough to be invited to do studio visits with them and really understand how that structure works as well.

So when it came to 8 Vine Yard, I was shown the space but actually funnily enough, it was originally not for me. I was looking on behalf of friends of mine who run a gallery in Italy. And they said, Josephiné, we really want to have a space in London to do a couple of shows, can you help us out? And so at the goodness of my heart, I went out there and tried finding them a space. I found them 8 Vine Yard and in true Italian fashion (I'm sure they don't mind me saying this) they cancelled. So I was left with this opportunity, which was this fantastic space in Central London, where I saw the potential for having this dialogue between residents and exhibition space. And ironically, I had about a week and a half because I was going to Singapore for work. So I just was like, you know what? I'm going to try and make this work. So I utilized, in the space of about three hours, all of the contacts I could think of and went into overdrive on the off moments during my job at the gallery. I just decided that if this opportunity is going to present itself, I'd be silly not to try and make it work.

I was really, really clear and really definite that I wanted to do a residency as well. I really did want that dialogue. Having previously run residencies, and as I said, being able to go to other residences as a visitor, I knew how valuable it is. The relationships that you develop with those artists is second to none and getting access to studios is a privilege so also being able to facilitate that and make use of my network was something that was really important and attractive to me.

And then it's a symbiotic relationship with the exhibition space as well because you might be inviting directors, collectors, press and whoever else it might be to come and do studio visits and at the same time you of course also have the exhibition space to show them. So it works really nicely for everyone to gain access to that network and it creates a really supportive environment, which is something that I'm really enjoying. I’ve always, always made it a focus of mine to try and make sure that whatever I do in whatever capacity it is, it's one that's very open and honest and people come away from them feeling very supported and encouraged.

That's incredible, especially because you did that on top of your full-time job! I wanted to talk to you as well about your Substack, The Shared Drive. I'm a big fan of The Shared Drive and I feel that for many creatives, self-publishing in that way is the goal. I'd love to know, what is your key to consistency when it comes to putting out your own newsletter? 

With The Shared Drive, I don't know if I'm the most consistent. I tried to do every week or every other week - I can't actually remember what I even said originally. Now I think it averages out as every two to three weeks. I think the thing that really encourages me to make sure that I do it is that the things that I’m doing - whether it be studio visits or a book that I've read or a project that I'm running or a friend of mine is running -  are the things that I really want to get out there. Plus, I love to write. I very often write for galleries and artists sometimes ask me to do their applications for things, letters, biographies and statements, whatever it might be. And so it's a really nice way to put my thoughts on, well, not on paper, but on screen. 

Coming away from a studio visit and posting a few pictures is all well and good but being able to pen my thoughts gives me the opportunity to properly reflect. It's also really nice for the artists because my aim is to showcase to them that I really have done my research, and that I do know a lot about their practice. And so when I approach them about doing something later on, they know that there's been a thought process that goes into it and it's not just for the sake of it.  

So the reason that I wanted to make sure that I'm consistent-ish with it is for those reasons. I want to make sure I'm supporting other people. My friend Gigi just launched Teaspoon Projects, and she was very understandably excited and anxious about the launch of it. So I made sure to do an entire dedicated post to some of the artists. When I do a really interesting studio visit or, for example, the launch of 8 Vine Yard, I want to be able to share it properly, beyond the depth that an Instagram post can give you. It’s a nice way of supporting other people and building connections as well. 

You've curated over twenty five shows in the UK alone - do you have a particular exhibition that stands out to you across your career? 

8 Vine Yard has been a really amazing project. I’m installing the next exhibition, Face To Face, this Saturday and it opens a week later. I think that show is going to be really wonderful and I’m really excited for that.  

But in terms of past projects or shows, there were two that kind of stand out to me. One that I did three years ago now called I Felt That, which was a three month long project with thirteen non-binary and women artists. The theme was the gender pain gap and it stemmed from personal experience of endometriosis and being in hospital in 2022, during Covid times, being really annoyed and angry and also having just read a whole bunch of feminist theory and literature. I was doing my masters at Goldsmiths at the time whilst also working at the Barbican and a gallery in London. Despite all of these things, I still felt that there wasn't a proper community and I felt very isolated. So putting on I Felt That was really lovely because it encouraged open communication amongst people that had experienced similar things, which ultimately culminated in an exhibition and a collaboration with a magazine. I'm still very good friends and I follow very closely the thirteen artists who participated in that. Zayn, who's currently a resident of 8 Vine Yard, was one of those artists.

Then I think the other exhibition that stands out to me, which is a bit more of a traditional exhibition, was Alicia Radage's ten-year retrospective, which I did around two years ago. We worked so closely for a number of months to completely transform the exhibition space, spending hours hanging pink fabric from all sides of the gallery. We were able to showcase loads of different mediums and really do a deep dive into her practice as a performance artist, sculptor and photographer. We showcased some really wacky and wonderful pieces and that ended up with her featuring in Frieze Mag which was just really lovely and valuable for her. From that intensity of relationship and working so closely together, we now have an amazing friendship and professional relationship as well. 

I think that's the crux of most of the things that I do - the ones that really stick with me are the ones that after working together, the relationship withstands the test of time and you really understand each other and get to grips with how each other work. 

What changes would you like to see in the future of the arts?

I think everyone is really feeling the pinch right now in the art world and as a result, I really think that those who are able to should really be focusing on supporting the arts. Supporting galleries, artists, residencies - whether that's something like Delfina Foundation, where they require donations in order to set up residencies for artists - or whatever it is. I think that we need to be honest and practical about that.

I think encouraging that ecosystem of support for people working on the artist side, the gallery side and everything in between is really important - I hope that’s something we can see more of in 2025. 

If you enjoyed this conversation with Joséphine, make sure to check out our other Artist Spotlight interviews over on https://www.brushwrk.co.uk/blog and whilst you’re there, why not have a look through all of the fantastic art we have for sale from emerging artists? Pop into the website to see what catches your eye…