Issy Wood Intimate ‘Self-Portraits’ Rock National Portrait Gallery in London
Summary
American-born, British-raised artist and musician has unveiled a new solo, 'Self-Portraits,' at London's National Portrait Gallery
On through February 2027, the exhibition launches the Gallery's new Artist Focus program, dedicated to talents pushing portraiture into new territories
Even in a visual world steeped in digital circulation, a hunger for figurative painting persists. Issy Wood is a British-American artist and musician who has have lifted the profile of a new generation of painters braiding classical and conceptual technique with the strange textures of youth culture today.
Hot off a major exhibition at the Kistefos Museum in Norway, the artist heads home to London for a spotlight at none other than the National Portrait Gallery for her first solo of self-portraits. Wood is the inaugural Artist Focus featuree, a new platform at the Gallery dedicated to voices shaking up the sub-genre, and the show comprises 12 works, seven of which making their public debut.
Wood came to the self-portraits through “a very practical urge” to supply stand-in visuals when a magazine “[threatened] to send a photographer over to my studio,” she explained in a recent interview. She began the series in 2020 and has also lent her brush to the stars; last year, she completed a dreamy cover of Charli xcx, who owns several of Wood ’ s works, for Vanity Fair ’ s first art issue in nearly 20 years. Through Wood ’ s image in Self-Portraits emerges threads of intimacy, consumer culture, and the complexity of identity, reveling in fragmentation as the truest form of self-representation. The personal is not embodied by what is revealed, but what is obscured, masked, and distorted. View this post on Instagram A post shared by HypeArt (@hypeart) Issy Wood: Self-Portraits is now on view through February 28, 2027. National Portrait Gallery St. Martin’s Pl, London WC2H 0HE, United Kingdom Read Full Article Related Stories > James Fuentes Gallery Revisits Teruko Yokoi’s Transpacific Abstraction > Market Gallery and THIRD BORN Capture the Beautiful Chaos of City Life > The Zaha Hadid Foundation Converts Its Historic London Headquarters Into a Public Cultural Hub Find out more for London 8 Must-See Art Shows and Installations During Frieze London 2026 From Slawn’s industrial-scale painting performance to Kozo’s art car takeover at The Peninsula London, here’s what to see beyond the fair. The Zaha Hadid Foundation Converts Its Historic London Headquarters Into a Public Cultural Hub The Clerkenwell space will bring Hadid’s archive into public view through exhibitions, learning programs and new commissions. Looking for more suggestions for London? We got you covered. Don’t miss out on the latest news by signing up for our newsletters. Subscribe
Erin Ikeuchi is a New York-based writer focused on the intersection of contemporary art and culture. Her work spotlights stories, people and moments powering art’s new league, from icons to underground legends. Her formal background in anthropology informs a curious, cross-cultural eye for art where it’s least expected. Since joining Hypebeast in 2024, where she spearheads art-related content, she’s contributed hundreds of articles, including industry news, features and interviews, alongside serving as lead curator for ‘Under the Same Sky,’ Hypeart’s 2026 exhibition with Bonhams. Read More
