Interview with Gallerist & Curator - Virginia Damtsa
Virginia Damtsa
With a wealth of experience spanning more than two decades, Virginia Damtsa, Director of VVA Virginia Visual Arts Ltd., stands as a seasoned and respected Art Dealer, Gallerist, Curator, Art Strategist and Artist Agent, bringing a unique and invaluable perspective to the art world.
From pioneering London Rifle maker Gallery in the 2000s to spearheading Virginia Visual Arts in 2018, collaborating with Peter Gabriel on the i/o art & music project and being appointed Director of Arts & Culture at the Town Hall in King's Cross for 2025, her experience of the art world is vast.
At the age of sixteen, Damtsa entered the art market to help her uncle to open the Museum of Alekos K. Damtsa, in The Art Centre Giorgio de Chirico. While she was studying her Master's degrees in Art Management at the University of the Arts and Contemporary Art at Sotheby's Institute, she converted her apartment into a gallery showcasing emerging artists and curated several exhibitions in her space, other galleries and pop-up spaces.
From 2004-2017, she co-owned, with composer and writer Tot Taylor, Rifle maker London, a contemporary art gallery housed in a historic gunmaker's workshop off London's Regent Street. Built in 1712, it is one of the oldest public buildings in the West End of London. In addition to her gallery work, she also lectured at Christie's for the Master's degree in Art, Law, and Business program.