ArtDayME: An exhibition showcasing the four shortlisted artists for this year’s prestigious Turner Prize has opened at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, the UK City of Culture 2025. Among the finalists, special attention is drawn to Mohammed Sami, the Iraqi-born artist now based in London.

Born in Baghdad in 1984, Sami studied painting and drawing at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad before moving to Europe. He graduated from Belfast School of Art in 2015 and later completed his MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2018.

Indirect Representations of War

Sami’s paintings do not depict war and violence directly. Instead, they are informed by delayed memories and everyday objects that recall his early life in Iraq. Working through traditional genres such as still life, landscapes, and interior spaces, he transforms familiar imagery into uncanny, sometimes threatening illusions.

In one work, the shadow of a helicopter blade stretches across a table and empty chairs; another suggests the outline of body bags. By avoiding direct portrayals of trauma, Sami encourages viewers to engage in a slower, more personal reading of conflict and its aftermath.

Language, Metaphor, and Memory

Sami incorporates Arabic linguistic devices such as metonymy and pun to shift depictions of violence toward the mundane. His semi-abstract, layered paintings resist classification as “trauma art,” offering instead a transient, open-ended space for critical inquiry. Rather than dictating a singular truth, his works evoke collective feelings of loss through a nuanced play of memory, absence, and allegory.

Turner Prize Nomination

Sami was shortlisted for “After the Storm”, a major exhibition at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, featuring 14 paintings that engage with the site’s history while weaving in subtle references to the Iraq conflict.

The Turner Prize exhibition in Bradford runs until 22 February 2025, with the winner to be announced on 9 December at an awards ceremony in the city.