Working across print, collage, sculpture, and drawing, Louis Blue Newby destabilises the clinical mechanisms of conventional archival practices. Departing from the archive’s logic of objectivity and regulation, his work reconstitutes the traces of human presence and desire—dust, lubricant, residue—as alternative materials for preservation and image-making. Newby’s practice engages with the visual language of public space, transforming everyday display structures such as cork boards, notice boards, and light boxes into conduits for longing and shared visibility. Within these frameworks, the act of looking becomes reciprocal: to see is also to offer oneself to be seen. By entwining bodily remnants with modes of display, Newby exposes the porous boundaries between public and private, contamination and care, revealing the archive as a site of both intimacy and exposure.

Louis Blue Newby (b. 1996, London, UK) lives and works in London, UK. Newby received a BA from Chelsea College of Arts in 2018 and an MA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Previous exhibitions and fair presentations include Reading in Bed at Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles, CA (2025); Losing Braincells at Paris Internationale with Ehrlich Steinberg, Paris, FR (2024); Inner Heat with Laila Majid at Goldsmiths CCA, London, UK (2024; Display at Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles, CA (2024; Deep Inside (Public Facing) at Soft Opening, London, UK (2023); Blueprints of Hope: Celebrating Queer Spaces at UCL Octagon Gallery, London, UK (2023); ALL NIGHT at Sherbet Green, London, UK (2022); Sessions Arts Club, London, UK (2022-23); The Artist Room at the Tom Of Finland Foundation Arts & Culture Festival (2022); SKINFLICKS at Xxijra Hii, London, UK (2022); Testing Ground at FILET, London, UK (2022); MELTDOWN at Ridley Road Project Space, London, UK (2022); healthy pink at springseason, London, UK (2020). In 2019, Newby was selected as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries, exhibiting at Leeds Art Gallery and South London Gallery. Other awards and funding include the Nancy Balfour Scholarship (2021); OMNI Artist Award (2021); The Elephant Trust (2020) and the This is This Award (2018). Newby’s moving-image work south florida sky, a collaboration with artist Laila Majid, was selected as part of the Dazed X Circa Class of 2022.

Exhibitions and Projects
Reading in Bed, 2025
Losing Braincells at Paris Internationale, 2024
Display, 2024




Installation view. 16, 2026. Soft Opening, London.


Installation view. 16, 2026. Soft Opening, London.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2026. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm).


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2026. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm).


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2026. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 48 x 12.5 in. (122 x 32 cm).


Installation view. Reading in Bed by Louis Blue Newby, 2025. Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Installation view. Reading in Bed by Louis Blue Newby, 2025. Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 8.25 in. (61 x 21 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 39.75 in. (61 x 101 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Dust Painting), 2025. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 24 x 39.75 in. (61 x 101 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Installation view. Reading in Bed by Louis Blue Newby, 2025. Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Chastity Painting), 2025. Traditional gesso, muslin, key, rust on wooden panel in tray frame, lock, dimensions variable, panel: 10.5 x 16.75 in. (26.7 x 42.6 cm); lock: 0.5 x 0.25 in. (1.3 x 0.6 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Chastity Painting), 2025. Traditional gesso, muslin, key, rust on wooden panel in tray frame, lock, dimensions variable, panel: 10.5 x 16.75 in. (26.7 x 42.6 cm); lock: 0.5 x 0.25 in. (1.3 x 0.6 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Untitled (Chastity Painting), 2025. Traditional gesso, muslin, key, rust on wooden panel in tray frame, lock, dimensions variable, panel: 10.5 x 16.75 in. (26.7 x 42.6 cm); lock: 0.5 x 0.25 in. (1.3 x 0.6 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Commons, 2025. Found Little Free Library, pornography and erotic literature, Farrow & Ball No. 278 Nancy’s Blushes Full Gloss, 60.5 x 25.5 x 13 in. (153.7 x 64.8 x 33 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Commons, 2025. Found Little Free Library, pornography and erotic literature, Farrow & Ball No. 278 Nancy’s Blushes Full Gloss, 60.5 x 25.5 x 13 in. (153.7 x 64.8 x 33 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Installation view. Inner Heat by Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, 2025. Goldsmiths CCA, London. Photo: Rob Harris.


Installation view. Inner Heat by Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, 2025. Goldsmiths CCA, London. Photo: Rob Harris.


Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Contact (Forum), 2024. Graphite on paper, perspex and wood frame, 121.25 x 18.25 in. (308 x 46.5 cm). Photo: Rob Harris.


Detail. Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Contact (Forum), 2024. Graphite on paper, perspex and wood frame, 121.25 x 18.25 in. (308 x 46.5 cm). Photo: Rob Harris.


Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Inner Heat, 2024. 4K video with sound, 2 minutes 30 seconds. Photo: Rob Harris.


Installation view. Losing Braincells by Louis Blue Newby at Paris Internationale 2024 with Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles. Photo: Margot Montigny.


Louis Blue Newby, Losing Braincells (Tessa), 2024. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 20 x 16.25 x 2 in. (51.1 x 41.1 x 5.4 cm). Photo: Jack Elliot Edwards.


Louis Blue Newby, Losing Braincells (Tessa), 2024. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 20 x 16.25 x 2 in. (51.1 x 41.1 x 5.4 cm). Photo: Jack Elliot Edwards.


Louis Blue Newby, Losing Braincells (Danny), 2024. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 20 x 16.25 x 2 in. (51.1 x 41.1 x 5.4 cm). Photo: Jack Elliot Edwards.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Losing Braincells (Danny), 2024. Crisco, dust, UV print and oil paint on wooden panel in perspex frame, 20 x 16.25 x 2 in. (51.1 x 41.1 x 5.4 cm). Photo: Jack Elliot Edwards.


Installation view. Display, 2024. Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles. Photo: Evan Walsh.


Louis Blue Newby, Loading Zone, 2024. Pencil, silkscreen, paint, Crisco, mineral oil, newsprint, lumex, inkjet prints, gloss paint, corkboard, aluminum, 59 x 40.3 x 1.5 in. (150 x 102.2 x 3.8 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Loading Zone, 2024. Pencil, silkscreen, paint, Crisco, mineral oil, newsprint, lumex, inkjet prints, gloss paint, corkboard, aluminum, 59 x 40.3 x 1.5 in. (150 x 102.2 x 3.8 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Installation view. Beautiful Girls on Top! by Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, 2023. Presented by Xxijra Hii at The Shop at Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Corey Bartle-Sanderson.


Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Spread (Camera Control), 2023. Inkjet print on Canson Photo Lustre, aluminium, glassine, Crisco, graphite, epoxy resin, obeche and maple tray frame, 18.75 x 24 in. (47.5 x 61 cm). Photo: Corey Bartle-Sanderson.


Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Contact (The Kiss), 2023. Graphite on Takeo Satogami 198gsm, 18.25 x 33 in. (46.5 x 83.5 cm). Photo: Corey Bartle-Sanderson.


Detail. Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, Contact (The Kiss), 2023. Graphite on Takeo Satogami 198gsm, 18.25 x 33 in. (46.5 x 83.5 cm). Photo: Corey Bartle-Sanderson.


Installation view. Deep Inside (Public Facing) by Louis Blue Newby, 2023. Soft Opening, London. Photo: Daria Blum.


Louis Blue Newby, Deep Inside (Public Facing), 2023. Lightbox, Crisco, inkjet print on Canon Photo Lustre, di-bond and stickers, 31.75 x 31.5 x 4.25 in. (80.5 x 80 x 11 cm). Photo: Daria Blum.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Deep Inside (Public Facing), 2023. Lightbox, Crisco, inkjet print on Canon Photo Lustre, di-bond and stickers, 31.75 x 31.5 x 4.25 in. (80.5 x 80 x 11 cm). Photo: Daria Blum.


Installation view. Louis Blue Newby, 2022. Sessions Arts Club, London.


Installation view. Louis Blue Newby, 2022. Sessions Arts Club, London.


Laila Majid and Louis Blue Newby, South Florida Sky, 2022. Phillida Reid, London.


Installation view. All Night, 2022. Sherbet Green, London. Photo: Damian Griffiths.


Louis Blue Newby, Bodies arranging themselves, 2022. Silkscreen, graphite, pen, coloured pencil, marker, inkjet print, Crisco, newsprint, glassine, magazine insert, pushpins, cork board, plywood and obeche, 56.25 x 34.25 in. (143 x 87 cm). Photo: Damian Griffiths.


Installation view. Slade Graduate Show by Louis Blue Newby, 2022. Slade School of Art, London, UK.


Louis Blue Newby, Arrangements, 2022. Tamperproof noticeboard, poster, pushpins, blu tack, ink, pencil, Crisco, glassine, newsprint, paper, magazine, glass, mirror solution, key, keyrings and dust, dimensions variable.


Detail. Louis Blue Newby, Arrangements, 2022. Tamperproof noticeboard, poster, pushpins, blu tack, ink, pencil, Crisco, glassine, newsprint, paper, magazine, glass, mirror solution, key, keyrings and dust, dimensions variable.


Installation view. Slade Graduate Show by Louis Blue Newby, 2022. Slade School of Art, London, UK.


Louis Blue Newby, Training Set 3, 2022. UV printed aluminium, stickers, tape, highlighter, resin, duct tape, fasteners, blu tak, pine, plyboard, engraved UV glass, lighter, spray paint, 25.5 × 17 in. (65 x 43 cm).


Louis Blue Newby, it was as spectators that they solemnly shared in what my pleasure revealed, 2022. Bankers boxes, magazines, Crisco, archival gloves and plywood, 27.5 x 15.75 x 13.75 in. (70 x 40 x 35 cm).


Louis Blue Newby, Door Open, 2022. Tamperproof noticeboard, key, blu tack, white tack, push pins, flyer, Crisco, dimensions variable.


Louis Blue Newby, Door Open, 2022. Tamperproof noticeboard, key, blu tack, white tack, push pins, flyer, Crisco, dimensions variable.


Louis Blue Newby, Trace_01 (Gayblade), 2020. Engraved plyboard, 50.75 x 12 in. (40 x 30 cm).


Louis Blue Newby, Trace_05 (Toy Magazine/VAGEVUUR), 2020. Engraved plyboard, 50.75 x 12 in. (40 x 30 cm).