Coming Out of the Art Womb: How artist Jon C Woods infused his latest exhibition with queerness
After nearly 40 years of artistic silence driven by censorship and curtailment, queer artist Jon C. Woods re-emerges with a bold retrospective exhibition in Bethnal Green
Coming Out of the Art Womb is an exhibition of radical vulnerability and unapologetic honesty. It is the culmination of decades of creation, introspection, and self-exploration within what artist Jon C Woods calls the “safety” of the art womb. Now, he invites you into a space of deep honesty, publicly exploring his relationship with his queerness, family, the art world, social norms, and, ultimately, what it means to be himself.
The body of work embraces Woods’s queer and non-normative self while also reflecting on his heterosexual partnerships and family life. As he explains, the exhibition “lays bare a life lived across categories, but never reducible to a single label. Only as a truthful expression of self, desire, and human connection.”
His paintings feature visceral scenes and intimate portraits, drawn from both real and imagined encounters: from a train conductor, once a gay lover, to a dancing jester on a moonlit beach.
“I’m grateful that with his openness I’ve learnt how to express and be myself fully too” – Jon C Woods’s daughter
Through this exhibition, Woods lays bare not only his art, but also the complex negotiation between self-expression and being seen. This is especially raw after years of pressure from what he dubs “the Cornish Art Mafia” to produce more decorative, less confronting seascapes and clichés. The exhibition is produced by his children as an act of deep admiration for his work, recognition of him as both artist and complex human, and frustration that it has remained unseen until now.
Amelia Woods, Jon’s daughter, said in a statement: “I’m putting on this exhibition because I believe in Dad’s work. It’s intense, and it’s brilliant. You might not want all of it up in your living room but it will punch you in the guts and make you feel. It feels unjust that he hasn’t been able to express and exhibit his work freely all these years. I’m so proud of him for being exactly who he is in all his fluid, weird and wonderful ways. And grateful that with his openness I’ve learnt how to express and be myself fully too. It’s a huge honour now to make this retrospective happen for him.”
Coming Out of the Art Womb is at Espacio Gallery in London from 9 to 14 September 2025.
RSVP here for the exhibition view night (11 September, 6-9pm).