Every time we handle money, we hold a portrait of the Queen. Most portraits we encounter are not on the walls of an art gallery but on objects like currency, or in the media, where they are deployed for some specific purpose. Creating and disseminating a portrait has always been an act of power. This exhibition asks: how are portraits utilised as tools of state and institutional power? and, how can portraiture be used in ways that undermine or subvert systems of power?

Exhibition curated by 2020 Liz Stringer Curatorial Intern, Paul Johnston.

Liz Maw, Elizabeth, 1999, Oil on board, Private collection

Alexander the Great tetradrachm issued under Lysimachos, 297 – 281 BCE, silver, Victoria University of Wellington Classics Museum 2010.1