The Approach Gallery

The Approach Gallery sits in a space that defies the typical quiet, sterile atmosphere of most exhibition venues. You enter the gallery by walking through the bustling, wood-paneled interior of The Approach Tavern, a Victorian-era pub that has stood on this corner of Bethnal Green since eighteen sixty-two. To reach the art, you must navigate through the bar and find a small, nondescript door tucked away near the back. This unconventional access point remains a hallmark of the gallery, which has occupied these modest, high-ceilinged rooms on the first floor since its founding in nineteen ninety-seven. By keeping its operations rooted directly above a working pub, the gallery maintains a direct, physical link to the neighborhood social life that shaped the East London art scene during the late twentieth century.