Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery usually arrive with an expectation of viewing any number of two-dimensional faces.
But when the gallery unveils its major new exhibition—Portrait23: Identity—it will be helping to redefine the genre of portraiture, and often in 3D.
The ambitious project, three years in the planning and to mark the Portrait Gallery’s third decade of operation, considers the broad concept of identity by inviting 23 preeminent contemporary artists from across the country to make a contribution. These include artists and collectives such as Nell, Abdul Abdullah, Angelica Mesiti, Atong Atem, Baby Guerrilla, Christopher Bassi, Deborah Kelly, Latai Taumoepeau, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Naomi Hobson, Amrita Hepi, and Sally Smart.
Each artist has been invited to realise a new approach to portraiture without borders and across a range of mediums—not only painting, drawing and photography, but street art, suspended textiles, performance, ceramics, bronze, and soft sculpture.
Sandra Bruce, NPG Director of Collection and Exhibitions says Portrait23 is an opportunity for the National Portrait Gallery to broaden preconceived ideas about portraiture and representation.
“Each of the artists selected is well-known and influential in their own right, but many would not consider themselves to be portraitists. The National Portrait Gallery is excited to work with them on this innovative, provocative exhibition, that moves beyond expected notions of what portraiture conventionally is,” says Sandra.
“A portrait is generally understood to be a literal visual likeness of a person, perhaps going so far as to reference their interests and endeavours. With Portrait23, through directly engaging with some of Australia’s most exciting contemporary artists, we are bringing new, diverse concepts and perspectives around the genre, and its inherent universal theme of identity, to the table.”
Presented across four galleries from 10 March to 18 June 2023, Portrait23: Identity will be accompanied by a publication featuring nine commissioned pieces of writing from leading Australian authors reflecting broadly, and personally, on the notion of identity, as well as a program of performances, lectures and events. Portrait23: Identity is a free exhibition and exclusive to Canberra.
Penny Grist, Co-Curator says Portrait23: Identity is an invitation for artists to stretch, push and break through the constraints of portraiture. “The exhibition has been defined by the artists actively asserting a multitude of experiences and perspectives that have the potential to expand and enrich our understanding of portraiture’s potential,” she says. She added that the “magic” of the exhibition will be the invitation it gives visitors to consider their own identity after seeing the wildly creative prompts of the artists.
NPG First Nations Curator, Meriam woman Rebecca Ray says Portrait23: Identity opens the Gallery up to a new kind of dialogue. “While identity has always remained a core feature of portraiture, this exhibition reveals a shift in the genre towards honouring the power of storytelling. “What we see are deeply personal evocations of themes that resonate collectively—cultural knowledge, the body, feminism, visibility and invisibility, activism, community, legacies of ongoing colonisation and journeys of migration.”
