Invisible Portraits explores what happens when portraiture becomes a way of recovering people from historical invisibility. Rather than concentrating simply on physical likeness, Lucy Ash combines paintings with film, sound and research to reconstruct LGBTQ+ lives that have often been marginalised, forgotten or deliberately excluded from conventional historical narratives.

The project developed through Ash's collaboration with Southampton City Art Gallery between 2020 and 2023, where she researched LGBTQ+ artists and stories connected with the collection. The London presentation expands this exploration of visibility and remembrance while gaining additional meaning from its location near Trafalgar Square.

Lucy Ash is a British-Canadian artist who studied sculpture at Central School of Art and Design and Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts. Working across painting, film and multimedia, her practice frequently explores identity, love, loss, injustice and the politics of who gets remembered.

It isn't a blockbuster, and that's part of its appeal. Invisible Portraits offers a more intimate encounter where art becomes an act of remembrance. The connection between the people represented, London's LGBTQ+ history and the exhibition's location gives the project a significance beyond the gallery walls.