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Samah Rafiq (b. 2000) is a London based Artist. She completed her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2024. Previously she completed her Undergraduate Degree at UAL Camberwell College of Arts, graduating in 2022 with a First Class Honours in Fine Art: Painting.

Drawing influences from a variety of popular culture sources such as films, advertisements, magazines, and commercial displays, Samah appropriates and subverts the imagery that constitutes the human experience and mass media function within the collective psyche. She explores the intersection of these sign systems, where the visual language of consumption not only sells but constructs deeper narratives that resonate on both sacred and profane levels. By mimicking and distorting these signs, she reveals their dual role: one that simultaneously glorifies and trivialises. Her paintings investigate the tension between popular imagery and its transformation into symbols of worship, asking how everyday commodities, through repeated visual association.

Education

Royal College of Art MA Painting 2023-2024

Camberwell College of Arts, UAL Fine Art: Painting, 2019-2022

Exhibitions

FUTURE Art Fair, presented by Refusés, Upper Manhattan, New York | 13th May - 16th May 2026; 'Spring Roots', Relish Curation × Tiderip, Battersea, London | 31st January - 28th February 2026; 'CONDO Satellite', Refusés × Harlesden High Street, Kings Cross, London | 16th January - 18th January 2026; 'Bloodsport, Debut Solo presented by Refusés, Shoreditch, London | 2nd October - 7th October 2025; ‘Mundane Shrine', Relish Curation at BOTH Gallery, Archway, London | 31st July-3rd August 2025; ‘New Abstractions', Galleria Obiets × Refusés. Shoreditch. London | 14th-15th June 2025;  'Excalibur' Germany Debut Solo Show, presented by Kira Streletzki Ziegrastraße 1, Berlin, Germany | 14th-19th November 2024

Press and Publications

Brave Podcast | June 2025 'Samah Rafiq', Podcast published on Spotify Channel; METAL Magazine | November 2024