k.d. lang has been selected among the unforgettable figures represented in Gay Icons, a new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in London opening today. For the exhibition, ten notable gay and lesbian figures were asked to select their "icons," people who, whether gay or not, influenced or inspired them. The image of k.d.—a 1992 print by photographer Jill Furmanovsky—was chosen by broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, who chaired the selection committee that also included the likes of Elton John, Billie Jean King, and Ian McKellen, icons in their own right.

In addition to the Furmanovsky photograph of k.d., works by Andy Warhol and Linda McCartney are among the images chosen to represent the selected icons. Those icons include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney; civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk; writers Quentin Crisp, Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith, and Walt Whitman; poet Maya Angelou; composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky; singer Bessie Smith; comedian Ellen DeGeneres; and Nelson Mandela and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Times (UK) reviewer Tim Teeman gives the exhibit four stars, calling it "colourful, intimate and moving. It ranges widely and touches on many lives, famed and unknown."

Gay Icons opens today at the National Portrait Gallery's Wolfson Gallery in London and runs through October 18. An illustrated book (pictured at left), featuring k.d. on the cover, accompanies the exhibition, with over 70 photographs, an introduction by Toksvig, and an essay by Richard Dyer. For more information on both, visit npg.org.uk.