Shezad Dawood works across film, painting and sculpture to juxtapose discrete systems of image, language, site and narrative, using the editing process as a method to explore meanings and forms between film and painting. His practice often involves collaboration, working with groups and individuals across different territories to physically and conceptually map far-reaching lines of enquiry. These networks chart different geographic locations and communities and are particularly concerned with acts of translation and re-staging.
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Shezad Dawood works across film, painting and sculpture to juxtapose discrete systems of image, language, site and multiple narratives, using the editing process as a method to explore meanings and forms between film and painting. His practice often involves collaboration, working with groups and individuals across different territories to physically and conceptually map far-reaching lines of enquiry. These networks map across different geographic locations and communities and are particularly concerned with acts of translation and restaging. For example, his collaborative film project, Feature (2008), relocated the action of a traditional western to the English countryside, slipping into other sub-genres such as the zombie-flick, and Wagnerian opera (and features cameos from artists Jimmie Durham and David Medalla), as well as South Asian godflick. Another recent video work, Towards the Possible Film (2014), shot on location in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, explores anthropological concepts of indigenousness through the genre of science fiction.
Dawood’s work has been exhibited internationally, including the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, USA (2018); Palazzina Canonica and Fortuny Factory Venice, Italy (2017-18); the Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing (2017); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2016); the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); Taipei Biennial, Taiwan (2014); Marrakech Biennial, Morocco (2014); MACBA, Barcelona (2014); Witte de With, Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2013); Modern Art Oxford (2012); Busan Biennale, South Korea (2010); Tate Britain, London (2009); and the 53rd Venice Biennale, Italy (2009). Most recently, Dawood has held solo exhibitions at Parasol Unit, London (2014); and OCAT Xi’an, China (2014). His feature film Piercing Brightness (2013) was exhibited widely at international festivals, is distributed by Soda Pictures on Blu-ray/DVD and iTunes, and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Dawood is a Jarman Award nominee (2012), and one of the winners of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2011).
Shezad Dawood was born in London in 1974 and trained at Central St Martin’s and the Royal College of Art before undertaking a PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University. Dawood is a Research Fellow in Experimental Media at the University of Westminster. He lives and works in London.
| 1974 | Born in London, United Kingdom |
| 1994–97 | Central St Martin's College of Art & Design, London BA (Hons) Critical Fine Art Practice (First Class) |
| 1998–00 | Royal College of Art, London MA Fine Art (Photography) |
| 2000–03 | Royal College of Art, London MPhil Fine Art (Photography) |
| Thesis: ‘Cowboys & Indians – Duality & Difference in the contemporary empire of signs’ | |
| 2003 | Artsadmin Bursary |
| 2004–08 | Leeds Metropolitan University PhD (Fine Art) |
| Thesis: 'The Killing of Chief Crazy Horse - A Metaphorical Allegory in 3 Parts'. A paper examining the relationships between live art, gallery and text, as both artistic and curatorial practice. | |
| 2005 | Live Art Development Agency One to One Bursary |
| 2008 | Commissions East |
| 2020 | Encroachments, New Art Exhchange, Nottingham, UK |
| 2019 | Leviathan, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK |
| Leviathan, Kunstverein Munich, Munich, Germany | |
| Encroachments in Leaving the Echo Chamber, Sharjah Biennial 14, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates | |
| 2018 | Leviathan, MOSTYN, Llandudno, Wales, UK |
| Leviathan: On Sunspots and Whales, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, Korea | |
| A Lost Future: Shezad Dawood, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA | |
| Leviathan: Memories of the Future Pt. 2, HE.RO, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Leviathan, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Leviathan, The Atlantic Project and Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth, UK | |
| 2017-2018 | Shezad Dawood. Leviathan Cycle, Episode 1: Ben, New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, University of Salford, Manchester, UK |
| 2017 | Leviathan, Palazzina Canonica and Fortuny Factory, Venice, Italy |
| 2016 | Shezad Dawood: Why depend on Space and Time, Galerist, Istanbul, Turkey |
| Shezad Dawood: Kalimpong, Timothy Taylor, London, UK | |
| Anarchitecture, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York, NY, USA | |
| 2015 | It was a time that was a time, Pioneer Works, New York, NY, USA |
| The Room, Fig-2, ICA, London, UK | |
| The Double Life of Arthur Schnitzler, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Towards The Possible Film, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, UK | |
| 2014 | Towards The Possible Film, Parasol Unit, London, UK |
| Towards The Possible Film, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds, UK | |
| The Anthropology of Chance, OCAT Xi’an, China | |
| Towards The Centre. Once More - Sadler’s Wells & Tate Visual Art Commission, 2014, Sadler’s Wells London, UK | |
| 2013 | Wolf Panel, Paradise Row, London, UK |
| Piercing Brightness, KINOKINO, Sandnes, Norway | |
| Trailer, Art in General, New York, USA | |
| 2012 | Parasolstice – Winter Light, inc. a special performance of Shezad Dawood: New Dream Machine |
| Project II with experimental music duo Praed, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London, UK | |
| Piercing Brightness, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall, UK | |
| Piercing Brightness, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK | |
| Cosmic Beach, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| 2011 | New Dream Machine Project, L’Appartement22, Rabat, Morocco |
| Piercing Brightness, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK | |
| 2010 | A Mystery Play, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, Canada |
| The Jewels of Aptor, Paradise Row, London, UK | |
| Cities of the Future, Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, India | |
| Intensive Surfaces, Århus Kunstbygning, Århus, Denmark | |
| 2009 | I Knew I Should Have Taken that Right Turn at Albuquerque, Washington Garcia, Glasgow, UK |
| MONTANA, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
| 2008 | Feature: Architecture, East Side Projects, Birmingham, UK |
| Journey to the End of the Night, Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milano, Italy | |
| Until the End of the World, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE | |
| 2007 | If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Paradise Row, London, UK |
| The End of Civilisation, Axel Lapp Projects, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2006 | Shezad Dawood & Friends, Artists’ Studio, London, UK |
| 2019 | Sharjah Biennale 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE |
| Leviathan: The Cod Trap, Toronto Biennale of Art, Toronto, Canada | |
| University of NonDualism, Frieze LIVE, London UK | |
| The Aerodrome – An exhibition dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley, Ikon, Birmingham, UK | |
| 2018 | Projections, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Gwangju Biennale 2018, Gwanju, South Korea | |
| Rendez-vous with Frans Hals, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands | |
| Lahore Biennale 01, Lahore, Pakistan | |
| IDEAL-TYPES, HE:RO by Maurits Hertzberger and Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Delfina in SongEun: Power play, SongEun ArtSpace, Seoul, Korea | |
| 2017 | HUMAN/DIGITAL: a symbiotic love affair Digital, Post Internet and Virtual Reality from the Brown Family Collection, Kunsthal Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
| I Want! I Want!: Art & Technology, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK | |
| Recent Acquisitions - Recent Developments, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Drawing Biennial 2017, Drawing Room, London, UK | |
| Mementos: Artists’ Souvenirs, Artefacts, and other Curiosities, Art Brussels Tour & Taxis, Belgium | |
| Thinking Tantra, Peninsula Arts, Plymouth, UK | |
| 2016–17 | THEATRE DE L'ABSURDE, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| 2016 | A Rotation of Six Video Works by Six International Artists from Collection (Anonymous), Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO, USA |
| The Universe and Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Neon: The Charged Line, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, UK | |
| 2015 | Vienna Biennale, Future Light, (Curated by Maria Lind), Angewandte Kunst (MAK) and Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna |
| Doris Duke’s Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape, and Islamic Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu | |
| 7th Moscow Biennale, Own Land/Foreign Territory, Manege, Moscow, Russia | |
| 2014 | Blow up, Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria |
| Blow up, C/O Berlin, Germany | |
| Sous nos yeux, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain | |
| Where are we now? Marrakech Biennale 5, Morocco | |
| Eastwing Biennial. INTERACT: Deconstructing Spectatorship, Courtauld Institute, London, UK | |
| Thread, MMKA, Arnhem Museum, Netherlands | |
| Moving Images, Art Dubai, UAE | |
| The Great Acceleration - Taipei Biennial 2014, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Blow-Up, Photo Museum Winterthur, Germany | |
| Conflict and Compassion - 3rd Asia Triennial Manchester, IWM North, Manchester, UK | |
| /Seconds, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE | |
| 2013 | Doris Duke’s Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape and Islamic Art, touring exhibition, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, USA |
| The World Turned Inside Out, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Shakti, Kedleston Hall, Derby, UK | |
| I Appear Missing, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Black Sun, Devi Art Foundation, Delhi, India (curated) | |
| I Look to You and I See Nothing, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE | |
| Sous nos yeux, La Kunsthalle Mulhouse, France | |
| Open Heart Surgery, The Moving Museum, London, UK | |
| 2012 | Speak Nearby, Whitstable Biennale, UK |
| Lost in Paradise: Du spiritual dans l'art actuel, Loft Sévigné, Paris, France | |
| Videonale 13 on tour, IZOLYATSIA Art Centre, Donetsk, Ukraine | |
| Drawings, Paradise Row, London, UK | |
| 2011 | Videonale: Dialogue in Contemporary Video Art, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan |
| How I Learned To Stop Fearing and Love the Exotic Art, Art Life Lounge, JAMM Foundation, Kuwait | |
| Generation in Transition, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland Videonale, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn & BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice The Pavement and the Beach, Paradise Row, London, UK | |
| AS THE WORLD TURNS: New Art From London, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, Australia | |
| 2010 | Illuminations (After Arthur Rimbaud), Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York, USA |
| Living in Evolution, Busan Biennale, Busan | |
| Rude Britannia: British Comic Art, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
| Grand National, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway | |
| Dawnbreakers, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK | |
| Wonderland: New Art from London, Assab One, Milan, Italy | |
| The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK | |
| 2009 | Disorientation II, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| AiM International Biennale 3rd Edition, Marrakech, Morocco | |
| The Artist’s Studio, Compton Verney, Warwickshire, UK | |
| Making Worlds, The 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy | |
| Natural Wonders: New Art from London, Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow, Russia | |
| Altermodern: Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
| Untold: The Rise of Schisms (Indian Popular Culture and Beyond), Sala de Exposiciones Alcala 31, Madrid, Spain | |
| 2008 | Indian Highway, in collaboration with Mukul Deora, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK |
| Lightness of Being, Initial Access, The Frank Cohen Collection, UK | |
| ReAsia, HKW, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2007 | Hobbyhorse, Arndt & Partner, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 2006 | Bubble & Squeak, PM Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
| East Wing Collection, Courtauld Institute, London, UK | |
| 2005 | Yabba Dabba Do, Cell Project Space, with Hilary Koob-Sassen, London, UK |
| London in Six Easy Steps, ICA, London, UK | |
| Go Between, Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria | |
| We Have Met the Enemy & He Is Us, Redux, London, UK | |
| 2003 | Indians & Cowboys, Gallery 4a, Sydney, Australia |
| 2002 | Site + Sight, Earl-Lu Gallery, Singapore |
| Ausgang, Studio Voltaire, London, UK | |
| 2001 | Century City, Tate Modern, London, UK |
| Selbst | porträt, Schloss Agathenburg, Agathenburg, Germany | |
| 2000 | Through A Glass Darkly, Kunstlerhaus Mösentürm, Frankfurt, Germany |
| 1999 | 000zerozerozero, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK |
| 2016 | 7669, Moscow International Experimental Film Festival, Russia |
| 2015 | Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF), York, UK |
| 2014 | New Dream Machine Project, Felix Meritis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| New Dream Machine Project, Artefact Festival, STUK, Leuven, Belgium | |
| Piercing Brightness, Aspen Art Museum, USA | |
| 2013 | Trailer, Kino der Kunst, Munich, Germany |
| A Mystery Play, part of Assembly: A Survey of Recent Artists’ Film and Video in Britain 2008–2013, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
| Trailer, special edit for Random Acts, Channel 4, 29.03.13 00:10, UK | |
| Piercing Brightness, Flatpack Festival, Birmingham, UK | |
| Piercing Brightness, Sci-Fi London (additional screenings: ICA, Fact Liverpool, Sheffield Showroom, Manchester Cornerhouse, Arnolfini, Cambridge Arts Picturehouse, Oxford Picturehouse, Norwich Picturehouse, Cameo Edinburgh, Star and Shadow Newcastle) | |
| Piercing Brightness, Glasgow Film Theatre, UK | |
| Piercing Brightness, Preston’s 7th International Film Festival, UK | |
| 2012 | Trailer, The Film London Jarman Award Shortlist National Tour, Various Venues, UK |
| Feature, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel Trailer, Sci-Fi Weekender, Whitechapel Gallery, London Trailer, Impakt Arts Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands | |
| 2011 | Feature, Videonale: Dialogue in Contemporary Video Art, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan |
| Sunday Morning and Feature, Generation in Transition, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland | |
| Piercing Brightness (Experimental cut with live soundtrack by Acid Mothers Temple), Abandon Normal Devices Festival, FACT, Liverpool, UK | |
| Feature, Video Night, Cinema Gnomo in association with Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milano, Italy | |
| Feature, Videonale, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany & BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice, Poland | |
| 2008 | Feature, Aurora Festival, Norwich , UK |
| 2015 | Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF), Best Artist Film Award |
| 2012 | Jarman Award, Shortlisted |
| 2011 | Abraaj Capital Art Prize |
| 2007 | Film London, LAFVA Award |
| Abraaj Capital Art, Dubai, UAE |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA |
| The British Museum, London, UK |
| Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India |
| Harris Museum, Preston, UK |
| LACMA, Los Angeles, LA, USA |
| National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada |
| Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing, China |
| Tate Modern, London, UK |
| UBS |
| 2016 | Palestra, Camilla ed., Shezad Dawood: Kalimpong, London: Timothy Taylor and Berlin: Sternberg Press |
| 2014 | Ziba Ardalan ed., Shezad Dawood: Towards the Possible Film, London: Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art |
| 2013 | Gerre van Noord ed., Black Sun: Alchemy, Diaspora and Heterotopia, London: Ridinghouse |
| 2012 | Gerre van Noord ed., Shezad Dawood: Piercing Brightness, London: Koenig Books |
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