Rezi van Lankveld

Rezi van Lankveld has gained recognition for her small-scale paintings. Her process-based work allows the paint to flow freely across the canvas to generate unexpected imagery. The artist will latch onto suggestive elements, such as lines or shapes which emerge from this mercurial process, and harness their potential to develop the construction of the overall painting— transforming what is perceived into what is created. Marked by an "all or nothing" approach that blends abstraction and figuration, chance and intention, van Lankveld begins by loosely pouring or applying paint onto boards or canvas and then manipulating the paint through pushing and stroking until recognizable figures and landscapes emerge from the brushstrokes. Her impressionistic paintings are characterized by a subdued colour palette of blues and greys, which brings to mind the aesthetics of Old Master paintings while also revealing influences from Surrealist automatic drawing and Jackson Pollock's action paintings. ...

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. ...