The BP Portrait Award exhibition is currently running at the National Portrait Gallery, offering the chance to see some of the country’s best contemporary portrait artists, collected in London.

Contemporary art in London
The award, sponsored by BP, is an enormously successful annual event aimed at encouraging young artists to focus on and develop their portrait skills. The competition is open to any artist under the age of 40 and this year’s BP Portrait Award features a range of styles from a varied group of artists, collected in a unique exhibition.

BP Portrait Award winner
The winner of the 2007 BP Portrait Award was Paul Emsley, the acclaimed South African artist depicting a highly detailed, highly realistic style of portrait. Emsley's subject was the contemporary artist Michael Simpson, and the piece is acclaimed for its haunting yet captivating contrast of colour. And now we wait to see who will be the BP Portrait Award winner in 2008.

BP Portrait Award shortlist 2008
This year's exhibition includes 55 portraits, and includes the four shortlisted artists, Simon Davis for Portrait of Amanda Smith at Vincent Avenue, Peiyuan Jiang for Untitled, Robert O'Brien for Hannah O'Brien and Craig Wylie for K. In 2007 a record number of portraits were submitted, with 1,870 artists putting forward their work for the exhibition. And this year the award has been just as popular with artists, and will no doubt be even more popular with visitors.

Cultured days out
Art fans can enjoy an exclusive collection of works at the National Portrait Gallery this summer, showcasing the latest in contemporary portraiture. Over 1,000 entrants submitted works to the competition this year and visitors to the gallery can see a selection of the very best throughout the summer.

The BP Portrait Award runs at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, from the 12th June to the 14th September 2008. The exhibition is free to visit.