The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled Artist Focus, a new contemporary programme dedicated to artists who are redefining portraiture today. Launching in the Gallery’s Weston Wing, the free series will present three solo exhibitions each year, beginning with the first major presentation devoted to Issy Wood’s self-portraits.
The inaugural exhibition, Issy Wood: Self-Portraits, brings together twelve paintings spanning the artist’s ongoing self-portrait series, begun in 2020. It marks the first time these works have been shown together and the largest exhibition dedicated to this aspect of Wood’s practice to date.
Born in North Carolina and based in the UK, Wood has become one of the most distinctive painters of her generation. Drawing on imagery from personal archives, social media, auction catalogues, advertisements and popular culture, her psychologically charged paintings explore intimacy, desire, consumer culture and contemporary identity through compositions that blur the boundaries between portraiture, still life and psychological narrative.
The presentation includes Self portrait 2 (2021) from the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection alongside eleven paintings from the artist’s own collection. Seven of the works have never previously been exhibited in public, offering visitors a rare insight into one of the most personal strands of Wood’s practice.
Known for her tightly cropped compositions and layered approach to concealment and revelation, Wood’s self-portraits often stand in place of photographs, with painted images becoming substitutes for the artist’s own likeness.
Artist Focus forms part of the National Portrait Gallery’s expanded commitment to living artists and contemporary portraiture. Staged three times a year and free to visit, the programme aims to foster new conversations around identity, representation and the evolving role of portraiture in contemporary art.
Dr Flavia Frigeri, Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery, said:
“The Gallery’s history has always been one of innovation. We were the first portrait gallery in the world when we were founded in 1856 and remain the global centre for the study and appreciation of portraiture today. As the home of portraiture, the NPG is best placed to be a venue and a platform for continued experimentation, as we work to inspire future generations by showcasing the work of trailblazing artists.”
Issy Wood: Self Portraits, 9th October 2026 – 28th February 2027, National Portrait Gallery
The programme will be made possible with the support of the Gallery’s new Contemporary Council. The Gallery is deeply grateful to Founding members who include The Bukhman Foundation, Cingilli Collection, The Firebird Collection, Jane Chao Lee, Christian Levett and Musee FAMM Mougins, Ryan Taylor Collection, Lady Ina Sarikhani Weston and those who wish to remain anonymous.
About the artist
Issy Wood (b. 1993, North Carolina) studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy of Art in London. Her work has been the subject of several major solo exhibitions worldwide, including most recently at Kistefos, Norway; Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; TANK Shanghai; Aspen Art Museum; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; and Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul. Her work is in the collections of numerous prestigious institutions in addition to The National Portrait Gallery, London, including the Dallas Museum of Art; Fondation Beyeler, Riehen; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Sharjah Art Foundation and Tate, London. Wood lives and works in London.
