Lisa Milroy

The Alan Cristea Gallery will present new paintings by Lisa Milroy, the first UK showing of their work since Milroy's 2001 Tate Liverpool survey.

Depicting Geishas in a series of unlikely settings, the paintings astonish us with their startling intimacy. Through them, we see the Geishas travel around the world and are invited to share their adventures.

Milroy loves Japan and has visited the country on several occasions. Her paintings now include a wide range of Japanese imagery, from Ukiyo-e prints and architecture to food and views of Tokyo. In 1996, Milroy because interested in painting people and the result was a group of paintings of Japanese brides. The formal dress and mask-like face was the next best thing to an object, enabling Milroy to make the transition from still life to life. The formality of these first portraits has long since disappeared and has been superseded by a freer, more gestural approach. In the recent paintings of Geishas, the focus is more on feelings than appearance.