Biography
Angela Flowers (1932-2023) established her first gallery in 1970 on Lisle Street in London's West End. In the 1980s, the gallery was one of the first to open in London's East End, in a former laundry/fur storage facility in Hackney, and the space became known as Flowers East. Matthew Flowers, Angela's son, took over day to day operations in 1989. In 1997, the gallery expanded further with a Los Angeles space, at Bergamot Station.
There are now two gallery spaces in London: a West End premises on Cork Street, Mayfair opened in 2000 and in 2002 the gallery moved from Hackney into a 12,000 sq foot industrial space on Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, East London. The US business relocated in 2003 from LA to New York on Madison Avenue, and then in 2009 moved to West 20th street in Chelsea. Flowers Gallery originally championed artists such as Tom Phillips, Penny Slinger and David Hockney and now has a stable of 50 artists.
After working as a cinema usher in the 1950s, Flowers set out to open a commercial art space that felt less intimidating. “Many people were scared to go into galleries at that time because they were so snooty. I wanted to open a friendly gallery and help younger artists,” she told The Sunday Times in 2013. Her first gallery opened in Lisle Street, Soho, in 1970, launching with an exhibition of works by the painter Patrick Hughes.
The gallery is an active publisher of prints and multiples with an established department in contemporary international photography.
