Good Venue Guide - 45: Flowers East Gallery, E8

Date of birth: September 1988.

Brief history: the Angela Flowers Gallery opened in Soho in 1970 with the aim of introducing and establishing young, contemporary British sculptors and painters. In the last 28 years, it has expanded and developed into an internationally recognised showcase for its artists; the gallery's fourth move took it to Richmond Road in Hackney, where it was renamed Flowers East. Since then it has acquired plc status and become one of the biggest commercial galleries in the country, representing more than 35 artists, including Prunella Clough, Terry Frost, Peter Howson, Lucy Jones and John Gibbons. In 1988, Flowers West was opened in Santa Monica, California, to facilitate its artists' international careers.

The building: built in the Thirties, it was originally a commercial laundry and then a fur warehouse. The plain brick exterior looks as utilitarian and unpretentious as it sounds. Inside it has excellent light and a spacious feel, with little to distract the eye from the exhibits. Flowers East has two large gallery spaces with a combined area of more than 4,000 square feet. Larger attendances mean that their exhibition policy has changed to the one-month run, with two solo shows at any one time. Flowers Graphics utilises a third, slightly smaller space for print exhibitions.

Current events: The Summer Show - a Survey of British Figurative Sculpture Part 2, with one piece each by over 40 contemporary British artists. Opening times: Tues-Sun, 10am-6pm. Tel: 0181 985 3333. See Tim Hilton's Art Openings, right.

How to get there: Hackney Central BR station (on the North London Line from Highbury & Islington) or London Fields BR station (direct from Liverpool Street).

Where to meet: the Pub on the Park, in London Fields, conveniently placed just down the road.

Cost of a glass of wine: pounds 2.45.