Founded in 2018, The Contemporary British Portrait Painters (the CBPP) draws together some of Britain’s most prominent contemporary portrait and figurative painters, exploring what it means to represent people in art today. This dynamic, not-for-profit collective was set up to foster connections between artists, and promote the intensely fascinating, timeless act of painting people in an era of disposable digital media. Members include some of Britain’s foremost portrait painters holding the highest accolades in the genre, ranging from prize winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s BP Portrait Award to Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year. As they prepare for their group exhibition featuring the work of over 45 members this June at The Department Store in Brixton, we caught up with founder and artist Ian Goldsmith and a selection of the collective to find out more about their practice.
