Anna Glantz

Religiously working with oil on canvas, the aesthetic elements of Anna Glantz’s paintings are contrastingly scattered, divergent, yet distinct. Contorted female figures slump at dining tables, or stand at street corners, whilst the surrounding scene contends with battling perspectives and layers of imagery. Unsurprisingly, the artist draws on a heady milieu of references such as Italian Renaissance frescoes, contemporary advertising, remnants of Pop Art, Surrealism, as well as the American Folk Art of Ammi Phillips and Zedekiah Belknap which undoubtedly contributes to the magnetic cluttering of her canvases. Remarking that a work is ready once viewers are simultaneously “pulled in as much as they push back against the painting”, Glantz’s captivating pieces disorient viewers with their candy-sweet renderings of stereotypes, inverting facets of the feminine in heightened allegorical tones. ...

The Approach is co-directed by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson. Located in Bethnal Green above The Approach Tavern, for over twenty years it has operated an internationally recognised programme from its East London base. The gallery is known for discovering artists and establishing their careers as well as making inter-generational curated group shows a strong focus. The list of represented artists includes the Estates of important overlooked female artists Heidi Bucher and Maria Pinińska Bereś, as well as seminal British collage artist John Stezaker, together with established and emerging artists including Magali Reus, Peter Davies, Lisa Oppenheim, Sandra Mujinga, Pam Evelyn, Sara Cwynar, Sam Windett and Caitlin Keogh. Over the years the gallery has operated parallel programmes in additional gallery spaces in London’s West End (The Approach W1) and in Shoreditch (The Reliance). The gallery is currently based solely in its original East End location and continues to expand its programme, showcasing its represented artists in the main gallery space, and both represented and non-represented artists in The Annexe, a smaller, more experimental space at the back of the building. ...