All for One, One for None

In collaboration with OOF Gallery, 2025

AC Larsen’s first UK solo exhibition is a collaborative act of queer resistance. Utilising the aesthetics and symbolism of Judeo-Christian memorial rituals, Larsen explores the materia realities of living as a trans+ person within the current UK political climate.

In June of this year, the Football Association (FA) banned trans women from playing in FA-affliated women’s football in England – even at amateur, grassroots level. The Scottish Footbal Association (SFA) quickly followed suit, stating that ‘only biological females’ would be allowed to play in SFA leagues from the 2025/2026 season onwards. The FA has since also updated its policy for trans men, requiring them to sign a statement that they are ‘biologically female’ and ‘have a greater risk of injury when playing against adult biological males’.

Women’s grassroots football is undeniably queer and has long been a safe space for trans and gender non-conforming people. Built on DIY community frameworks that don’t shy away fro their egalitarian left-wing politics, hundreds of trans-inclusive leagues and clubs have been operating for decades up and down the country, fostering belonging, community and essential social-support for vulnerable groups. These S/FA bans go against the very ethos of grassroots sport and fly in the face of the FA’s own values, whose tagline ironically advocates: ‘Football, For All’.

Larsen’s show is dominated by an 8ft memorial which features the names of 140 trans+ football players from grassroots football teams across England, Scotland and Wales, compiled through an open call. ‘Give Us Our Roses While We’re Still Here’ takes its name from the rally cry of Transgender Day of Remembrance – an annual observance that honors the memory of trans people who have lost their lives to violence and hatred. The names have been rendered illegible to protect players from doxing – a common practice used by the anti-trans lobby, whereby personal information is publicly distributed with the intent of causing psychological and/or physical harm. The work serves as both a stark reminder of the safety concerns trans people navigate on a daily basis and a powerful allegorical gesture of community belonging.

In ‘Stigmata’, Larsen reflects on their experience of recovering from gender-affirming surgery in the weeks following the FA’s policy update. Drawing parallels between their resulting scars and the wounds of stigmatics in Christian mysticism, Larsen explores the state’s obsession with controlling trans bodies and the continual political footballing that simultaneously frames trans people as pariahs and threats. Larsen evokes the deep sense of care that can be built through ritual practice in ‘Communion’; 11 concrete casts of LED powered tea lights, which are often lit as devotional or celebratory acts within multiple faiths, arranged in the Lionesses’ Euro ‘25 winning 4-3-3 formation.

‘All For One, One For None’ is at once an ode to the formidable force of grassroots communities, an an evocation of the perpetual proximity to fragility that is felt by trans people, too often at the hands of governing bodies.

‘Stigmata’, 2025, printed leather, tiles

All for One, One for None

so i know i’m living in this hour

ACTS OF UNION