Victoria Miro has just opened an impressive new, 800sq m space next door to its original gallery in N1. Situated on the top floor of this former warehouse by the Grand Union Canal, its huge curtain windows may not provide as iconic a view of the London landscape as those from Tate Modern - which it seems modelled on - but it is every bit as light, airy and attractive.

Its inaugural exhibition is the US portrait painter Alice Neel, whose European debut at Victoria Miro was held just three years ago, a full 20 years after the artist's death. Having spent most of her life painting in relative obscurity, Neel is now regarded as a portraitist of real insight and humanity, one with an endearingly quirky sensibility.

The ten paintings on show span more than 40 years, but, with only the minor adjustment of a brighter palette, show remarkable stylistic consistency. The earliest painting is of Neel's mother, an austere and old-fashioned portrait of 1930 in gloomy greys and browns (pictured). Yet Neel was also adept at capturing the irrepressible energy of her sitters, as shown in the wonderfully flamboyant 1976 portrait of women's rights champion Bella Abzug. Though never very fashionable during her lifetime, Neel's warmth and eye for idiosyncratic detail have an enduring appeal.

Until Jul 21, Victoria Miro Gallery, 16 Wharf Road N1, Tue to Sat 10am to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 7336 8109. www.victoria-miro.com Tube: Old Street/Angel