Bloodsport

2 October - 6 October

Presented by Refusés, Bloodsport is the first solo show of London-born artist Samah Rafiq (b. 2000), whose practice explores how consumer imagery and media symbols shape our psyche, between the sacred and the profane.

Bloodsport takes as its starting point the enduring image of the gun, a symbol at once exalted and profane, cinematic and real, seductive and destructive. From the glamour of Hollywood action films to its role as an emblem of power and mortality, the gun has become firmly embedded in our collective imagination. In this body of work, Samah pushes the image to its extremes. Weapons appear monumental, gleaming and distorted, transformed into icons that both attract and repel. Through these works, Samah reflects on how instruments of violence are absorbed into systems of desire, status and aspiration, raising the question of whether an object born of destruction can ever truly escape the realm of the profane.