A 2023 portrait of Charli xcx shot by Harley Weir has officially joined the National Portrait Gallery’s collection in London. The acquisition comes as the artist’s new album, Music, Fashion, Film, vies for the UK number one spot and she prepares for major festival headlining sets.
Harley Weir Portrait Enters National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery has acquired a striking photograph of Charli xcx captured by photographer Harley Weir in 2023.
Brandei Estes, the gallery’s senior curator of photographs, expressed enthusiasm for the addition. She noted that the institution was delighted with the acquisition and praised the subject as one of the defining cultural figures of her generation. Estes also commended Weir for developing a distinctive photographic language that marries intimacy with a powerful sense of presence.
History Makers Now Space and the Bukhman Foundation
The newly acquired portrait hangs in the gallery’s History Makers Now area, a zone specifically dedicated to contemporary figures actively shaping culture and society. By entering this collection, the portrait joins modern likenesses of prominent cultural and public figures, including Raye, Catherine, Princess of Wales, actor Naomi Ackie, queer activist Lady Phyll, Marcus Rashford, Andy Murray, and King Charles III.
Funding for the acquisition came via a gift from the Bukhman Foundation, an organization that champions breakthroughs in Type 1 Diabetes and the arts to foster lasting change.
Commercial Success and Surprise iTunes B-Sides
The gallery induction arrives during a massive week for the artist’s latest commercial output. Her release Music, Fashion, Film has dominated critical and commercial spaces since its Friday drop, earning a five-star review from the Guardian, which hailed her as our most consistently bracing pop star. The album sits in contention for the UK No 1 spot on the midweek chart, outpacing new releases from Snow Patrol, Shania Twain, and the Strokes, which could mark her fourth UK chart topper and second of the year following her Wuthering Heights soundtrack success in February.
Capitalizing on the momentum over the weekend, the pop star released three unlisted B-sides from the project: I Keep on Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night, Playboy Bunny, and If You Take Away the Music Then What Has She Got? Each track arrived paired with a black-and-white music video exclusively on iTunes, bypassing traditional streaming services.
Charli xcx explained via Instagram that she had been strongly opposed to putting the tracks on streaming services because it felt counterintuitive to the ethos of those songs, but acknowledged that her fans really wanted them, leading her to begrudgingly make them available on iTunes.
Charli xcx, via Instagram
Film Slate and Upcoming Live Performances
Beyond music and gallery walls, the artist’s schedule reflects an intense crossover into cinema. One track from her new record, Camera, documents her recent acting forays, which include a role playing herself in the pop mockumentary The Moment, appearances in the Polish arthouse drama Erupcja, the fantastical 100 Nights of Hero, and a feature opposite Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans in Sacrifice.
Her upcoming film slate includes roles in Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, the comedy thriller The Gallerest, and a remake of the 1978 horror film Faces of Death. She is also taking on a dual role as star and producer for an untitled project directed by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike.
Festival Headlining and North American Touring
Before her heavy cinematic projects take center stage, the performer is slated to headline the Reading and Leeds festival. Following those festival performances, she will cross the Atlantic to embark on a North American tour spanning September and October.
