Based in Oxford, Louis Wootton-Davies (b. 2000) is a Shrewsbury-born artist and Oxford Brookes University graduate whose multidisciplinary practice explores themes of personal and working-class identity, class dysmorphia, and masculinity.
His work has been exhibited in galleries across the UK, with paintings held in private collections internationally. In August 2025, Wootton-Davies presented his debut solo exhibition at the Soden Collection, Shrewsbury. He is currently preparing for his first London solo exhibition, scheduled for November 2026 at Twilight Contemporary, Islington.
Wootton-Davies draws directly from his working-class experience, using the term class dysmorphia to describe the tension and disorientation felt in relation to his class identity. Through a combination of family archives, self-conducted photography, and recorded interviews, he explores the process of recognising and accepting one’s social position. His work is often described as uncanny, carrying a strong sense of nostalgia and emotional distance.
Recent work has increasingly focused on the materials depicted within his paintings, incorporating sections of metal as a reference to his father’s trade in car breaking yards. These material gestures function as both autobiographical markers and symbols of labour, grounding the work in lived experience.
“I have used the term class dysmorphia to describe my relationship with my class identity. At some point, there is a realisation of your social standing, often prompted by comparison. When you grow up in a community where most people occupy similar positions, you accept that as normal. It is only later, when you move beyond that environment, that broader class divisions become apparent.
For me, this realisation came when I left home to attend university. Conversations around money were unavoidable—complaints about modest loans supplemented by parental support, and comments about how ‘lucky’ I was to receive the maximum student loan due to coming from a low-income household.”
His recent exhibition at the Soden Collection, Pub Money, shares its title with one of the paintings shown. The work depicts an Indian takeaway in his home village, close to his family home. When finances were strained, his father began working there as a delivery driver. He would refer to the income as “pub money”—suggesting it was disposable or secondary—despite working weekend evenings traditionally reserved for leisure. The phrase pub money becomes a revealing euphemism, reflecting the ways financial hardship is often softened or obscured through humour and understatement.
Solo Exhibitions
Pub Money: August 2025, Soden Collection, Shrewsbury
Group Exhibitions
Metanoia: May 2023, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
DreaMFActory23: December 2023, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
Window Gallery: March 2024, Fusion Arts, Oxford
Tabula Rasa: June 2024, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
Guildford House Open: November 2024, Guildford House Gallery, Guildford
AKA Fine Art Winter Exhibition: December 2024, AKA Fine Art, Cambridge
SFSA Painting Open: December 2024, Second Floor Studios & Arts, Deptford, London
Oxfordshire Artweeks: May 2025, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford
OAS Young Artists Exhibition: June 2025, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford
British Art Fair with Soden Collection: September 2025, Saatchi Gallery, London
‘A Light Hold On Truth’ Photo Oxford: October 2025, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford
Soho Open: November 2025, GPS Gallery, Soho, London
Southwark Park Galleries Annual Open 2025: November 2025, Southwark Park Galleries, Southwark, London
Curated Exhibitions
OAS Young Artists Exhibition: June 2025, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford
Panels
Painting Insights Podcast: July 2025