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This exhibition of unclothed portraits from the National Portrait Gallery Collection invites questions about identity and gender, the real and ideal. It includes portraits of exposed sitters from Nell Gwyn to Naomi Campbell, Gilbert & George to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. 

Exposure has more than one meaning. It can describe harmful or welcome experiences: the revelation of a shameful secret or the achievement of longed-for publicity for a person or cause. It can refer to acute vulnerability or complete self-assurance. The various meanings of ‘exposed’ can be found in the portraits in this exhibition.

A distinction is often made between the naked and the nude. Nakedness is associated with authenticity – ‘the naked truth’. In contrast, the nude belongs to a tradition of idealised figures that extends back to ancient Greece and was central to artistic training from the Renaissance to the late nineteenth century.

The exhibition is divided into two parts; Bodies of Desire focuses on the vital role of gender and sexuality in portraiture and how it exhibits elements associated with the nude such as an interest in the eroticised or idealised body. In close juxtaposition, Reclaiming the Body addresses postmodern and feminist theory and ways in which it has brought about a reappraisal of the naked body in art.