Which London avant-garde art gallery did Paul McCartney help open in 1966?

The London avant-garde art gallery Paul McCartney helped open in 1966 was the Indica Gallery.

The Indica Gallery operated in Mason’s Yard, London, from 1965 to 1967. It was founded by John Dunbar, Barry Miles and Peter Asher as part of the wider Indica bookshop-and-gallery project. McCartney supported the venture, helped prepare its opening flyers and designed wrapping paper.

The gallery became especially famous for its November 1966 exhibition of Yoko Ono’s conceptual art. McCartney encouraged John Lennon to visit, and Lennon’s encounter with Ono there became a major episode in Beatles history, although accounts differ over whether it was their first meeting.

A common mix-up is confusing the gallery with the Indica Bookshop. They were closely connected, but the bookshop moved to Southampton Row in 1966 while the gallery remained in Mason’s Yard. The Indica was part of London’s 1960s counterculture rather than a national institution such as Tate Modern.