From Monday 9th March – Friday 13th March we are focussing on exhibitions in Nottingham, East Midlands. First up is ‘Encroachments’ a solo exhibition of works by Shezad Dawood at the New Art Exchange, the largest art space in the UK devoted to showcasing the work of diverse artists..
Dawood takes an unusual viewpoint on the often tense relations between the United States and Pakistan since partition in 1947. It is a mixed media show comprising sculpture, painting, neon and ceramics in a gallery covered in a special wallpaper in which he mediates on questions of militarism, sovereignty, space, privacy and the politics of the Cold War..
Centre stage is Dawood’s resin model of the former US Embassy in Karachi, designed by renowned modernist architect Richard Neutra, that once represented a certain kind of optimism about relations between the USA and Pakistan. As such, Dawood interweaves elements of European and South Asian modernism in order to explore and rearticulate contemporary geopolitics as well as his own cultural identity. ‘Encroachments’ is on view at New Art Exchange, Nottingham until 15 March..
Shezad Dawood, ‘Folk Tunes of Pakistan on Electric Sitar and Western Instruments’, 2019. Photo: @errolfrancisphotography