Roman Road

ROMAN ROAD HQ

69 Roman Road

London E2 0QN

United Kingdom

 

@romanroad_

info@romanroad.com

 

ROMAN ROAD

Roman Road is a catalyst for artists' career growth, building on its origins as a gallery space. Initially founded in 2015 as a traditional exhibition venue participating in art fairs, Roman Road quickly recognised the need for a more comprehensive support system to help artists navigate their careers beyond the exhibitions. This insight led to the development of a forward-looking curatorial and studio platform, designed to respond to young artists’ needs in an ever-evolving art world.

From 2020 to 2023, Roman Road provided free studio spaces to emerging artists alongside mentoring programmes, reaffirming its commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. Its headquarters in Bethnal Green now house a dedicated research and workshop room, ensuring resources are readily available to artists.

Roman Road continues to pioneer an artist-focused approach, establishing itself as a vital resource for emerging talent in the contemporary art world.

MARISA BELLANI

Marisa Bellani opened her first project space in Bethnal Green, London, in 2013. Today, she collaborates with over 50 ultra-contemporary artists, curating solo and group exhibitions. She is also the founder of Beyond Studio, the educational branch of Roman Road, which offers tailored one-on-one programmes and group-focused initiatives designed to support artistic growth and equip artists with practical skills for sustainable careers. She aims to expand Beyond Studio by integrating specialised partners to provide further support for artists within her community.

Marisa’s work reflects a commitment to advancing artistic development through research, education, and collaboration. In 2015, she founded Roman Road, a contemporary art gallery initially focused on process-based art and developments in photography. Over time, the gallery evolved into a platform for emerging artists, providing exhibitions, workshops, and mentoring. From 2020 to 2023, Roman Road offered free studio spaces to young artists alongside mentorship programmes. Its headquarters in Bethnal Green now includes a dedicated research and workshop room, ensuring accessibility for artists, particularly those based in East and Southeast London.

Marisa is known for identifying and supporting emerging talent. Exhibitions at Roman Road showcased artists in the early stages of their careers, including Channatip Chanvipava, Daisy Dodd-Noble, Yulia Iosilzon, Jessie Makinson, and Alix Marie, all of whom have since gained international recognition. Roman Road gained prominence through its involvement in notable exhibitions, notably 'Shape of Light' at Tate Modern, which included Antony Cairns and Daisuke Yokota—artists supported by the gallery. Its commitment to a non-commercial, artist-focused approach was exemplified by immersive showcases like ‘The Chicken Show’ (2014). The gallery’s artists and exhibitions have been featured in leading publications such as The Art Newspaper, The Guardian, i-D, Another, The British Journal of Photography, Artnet, and Artsy.

In 2024, Marisa launched 'We The Future', a curatorial series at Christie’s exploring themes of utopia, dystopia, the human mind, and evolving gender roles. Inspired by the liminal spaces where uncertainty reigns, each exhibition navigates the tensions between the natural and the constructed, the personal and the universal. Themes of mortality, resilience, and transformation emerge as artists explore the fragile balance between chaos and order, stability and disruption.

Marisa has contributed to educational initiatives, delivering talks such as 'Taking Your First Steps as an Artist' at the Sarabande Foundation and 'Traumata' at Sotheby’s London, where she explored the works of Louise Bourgeois and Yayoi Kusama in the context of contemporary women artists. Beyond Studio offers funded spots for group classes to increase accessibility and collaborates with universities, art schools, and professionals in law and finance to enhance the programme’s offerings.

Her professional accolades include serving on the Young Patron Steering Committee of The Photographers’ Gallery and the Tate Photography Acquisition Committee. She has been recognised by Vogue as one of 20 young talents to watch and by Artnet as one of five young art dealers to follow.

Her educational programmes incorporate neuroscience-based coaching techniques informed by her training at the NeuroLeadership Institute (2019). Marisa holds a law degree from the Université de Liège (2008) and a master’s degree in photography from Sotheby’s Institute of Art (2012).

There are currently no job opportunities.

PRIVACY POLICY

 

Here at Roman Road, we take your privacy and data seriously. We will never share your data with a third party without your consent.

 

Be aware that the amount of information we hold on you and how we use it depends on your relationship with us and some of the sections below may not be relevant to you. We use your data to respond to your enquiries and provide you with information that we believe you would like to receive about Roman Road, our artists, available artworks and our events (the legal basis for this is “legitimate interest”).

 

If you are signed up to our mailing list, we may email you with information and updates that we believe you will find relevant. If at any point you no longer wish to receive these from us, you can simply click on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email from us. We will store and process your name and email address through MailChimp. See their privacy policy here. If we have discussed a possible transaction or business opportunity with you, then we may also store your contact details in a secure, computer-based facility, which has limited access to prevent unauthorised use.

 

If you submit a CV or an employment application to us online, all of the information you submit may be used for any and all purposes ordinarily associated with processing an employment application.

 

If you submit information and images of artwork to us through our website or otherwise for consideration, all of the information you submit will be kept on file for reference and future opportunities.

 

You have the right to find out what data we hold about you and the right to ask us to edit, delete or transfer that data. Just drop us an email at info@romanroad.com