Hana Miletić

Constantly traversing the domestic with the municipal, Hana Miletić creates hand-woven pieces which meditate on care and restoration within public space. Echoing the formal elements of Abstract Expressionism, with their grid-like structure and bright palette, each piece begins not in the studio but in the street. Using her background in photography, Miletić documents acts of repair in urban environments, capturing perhaps a building being stitched back together, or smaller details, like a car window being bound by tape. Back in the studio, Miletić will tenderly render these metropolitan bandages in textile form, using generational techniques of hand-weaving, which require patience and, most importantly, time. This contrast of the fast-paced flux of the depicted city habitats and the endurance of Miletić’s material processes sheds light on the artist’s devotion to care and custodianship— not simply in relation to the protection of objects and public space but to the wider conservation of transnational relationships concerning migration and trade. This empathic sensibility is tangible in the works, woven into each thread by Miletić. ...

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. ...