National Portrait Gallery Launches New Contemporary Art Programme
Inaugural Artist Focus Series Debuts With Twelve Self-Portraits By Issy Wood
Read more: First Look: Issy Wood’s Intimate Self-Portraits at the NPG
13/8/2026 Chise Taguchi
The National Portrait Gallery is shaking up its historic halls with Artist Focus, a bold new contemporary programme designed to challenge everything we know about portraiture. Hosted in the gallery’s sleek Weston Wing, this free-to-access series will spotlight three trailblazing living artists each year, offering a vital look at how identity, representation, and the modern human experience collide.
Kicking off this global initiative is the internationally acclaimed, American-born British painter Issy Wood. Born in North Carolina in 1993, Wood has captivated the art world with her hauntingly intimate, psychologically charged canvases. Her work feels distinctly of our time, pulling imagery from a chaotic mix of personal archives, social media feeds, auction catalogues, and pop culture advertisements. The resulting compositions occupy a surreal, moody middle-ground where classic portraiture, still life, and dark psychological narratives blur into one.
The NPG currently holds the unique distinction of being the only national institution to own an Issy Wood self-portrait. Visitors will get to see that very piece—Self portrait 2 (2021)—displayed alongside eleven works loaned from the artist’s own personal collection. Most excitingly for art enthusiasts, seven of these twelve intimate portraits have never been exhibited publicly before.
This ambitious new chapter for the gallery is made possible by the NPG’s newly formed Contemporary Council, a powerhouse group of founding members dedicated to keeping the historic institution firmly on the cutting edge of the global art scene.
National Portrait Gallery
St. Martin’s Place London WC2H 0HE
npg.org.uk