21st-Century Portraits

With over 150 illustrations by 50 artists, 21st-Century Portraits explores new developments in the representation of the human form and face as well as the continuing appeal of commissioned portraiture.

The selection of portraits features cutting-edge new work from the international art community, and reflects an increasing interest in identity worldwide. Organized thematically, the book examines seven key strands of portraiture: Observational Portraits; Self-Portraits;

Commissioned and Celebrity Portraits;

Social Portraits; Geopolitics and National Identity; The Body; and Re-invented Portraits.

The artists and photographers featured are Marina Abramovi´c, Francis Alÿs, Sophie Calle, Tacita Dean, Rineke Dijkstra, Milena Dragicevic, Marlene Dumas, Lucian Freud, Shadi Ghadirian, Antony Gormley, Zhang Huan, Chantal Joffe, Michael Landy, Annie Leibovitz, Hew Locke, Steve McQueen, Oscar Muñoz, Shirin Neshat, Julian Opie, Grayson Perry, Marc Quinn, Gerhard Richter, Boo Ritson, Jenny Saville, Thomas Struth, Tomoaki Suzuki, Sam Taylor-Wood, Gavin Turk, Gillian Wearing and Bettina von Zwehl.

With a foreword by Andrew Graham-Dixon and an essay by Sandy Nairne (Director of the National Portrait Gallery) and Sarah Howgate (Curator of Contemporary Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery) that locates contemporary portraiture within a historic tradition, 21st-Century Portraits examines current trends, showcasing the wide range of media used by today’s artists.

The book also includes an extensive list of suggested further reading.

This striking book explores contemporary portraiture from the past decade. The selection features cutting-edge new work from the international art community and reflects an increasing interest in identity worldwide.

Organised thematically, the book examines seven key strands of portraiture:

The Body; The Self-Portrait; The Invented Portrait; The Anonymous Portrait; Social Identity; The Celebrity Portrait. With an essay by Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, that locates contemporary portraiture within a historic tradition, 21st Century Portraits examines current trends, showcasing the wide range of media today’s artists are using.

This book includes an extensive bibliography and is an essential reference work in the field of twenty-first-century portraiture. It will present many images to academic, curatorial and general audiences, including museum and gallery visitors and general art book buyers in the trade for the first time.

21st-Century Portraits