Sommaire
Shezad Dawood,Night in the Garden of Love,2023.VR environment, durationvariable, produced by UBIK Productions, co-commissioned by WIELS, Brusselsand Aga Khan Museum, Toronto. Courtesy of UBIK Productions
Wiels, located in Brussels (Forest), is one of the most important European institutions for contemporary art. As a place of creation and dialogue between art and architecture, it presents national and international artists, both emerging and established.
Shezad Dawood, Mutant Dancer 3, 2023. Acrylic on vintage textile hanging, 180 x 157 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Jhaveri Contemporary.
The exhibition features music and drawings by the late African-American musician Yusef Lateef, who was one of the first to incorporate traditional instruments into his music, pushing the boundaries of jazz. His Autophysiopsychic methodology aims to activate the physical, mental and spiritual senses. His drawings function as musical notes, presenting abstract and organic forms reminiscent of plants.
Yusef Lateef
Shezad Dawood, the 50-year-old British artist of Indian and Pakistani descent, explores non-Western traditions; his work takes different forms and media, in this case music.
For ten years, he has been exploring and practising the possibilities of virtual reality.
Jonathan Glynn-Smith | Portrait of Shezad Dawood
For the first time outside the United States, Lateef’s original drawings, which form the basis of the exhibition, are presented. These works depict constellations of plants and organic forms, somewhere between figurative and abstract.
Yusef Lateef, Untitled, N.D. Pen, ink and pastel on paper, 55.8 x 76.2 cm. Private Collection of Ayesha Lateef. Courtesy of the Estate of Yusef Lateef and White Columns, New York.
Yusef Lateef, Untitled, N.D. Pen, ink and pastel on paper, 55.8 × 76.2 cm. Private Collection of Ayesha Lateef. Courtesy of the Estate of Yusef Lateef and White Columns, New York.
De tuin
The 2 artists drew inspiration from the garden, an ancient symbol of man’s power, his power over a nature he wanted to control.
Here, the garden is seen as a place of creation and optimism in the face of the climate crisis. His art is conceived as poetry that could usher in a new spiritual epiphany and lead to change.
Shezad Dawood, Lion’s Foot Dancer, 2023. Acrylic on vintage textile hanging, 198 x 138 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Jhaveri Contemporary.
Parfum
The works presented here are accompanied by a unique fragrance, specially created by Shezad Dawood in collaboration with Olivia Bransbourg, of the Iconofly label, Parisian perfumer Nicolas Bonneville and Firmenich, designer of perfumes and aromas.
This fragrance, with notes of jasmine and brugmansia, embodies the different plant scents found in the garden ecosystem, and is released in a large ceramic vase designed for this purpose by the ceramics studio Ofumum.
The fragrance, a fusion of wood (xylon) and flora, is named after an invented mutant word, Xyloflor.
Shezad Dawood, The Wind Howls 2, 2023. Acrylic on vintage textile hanging, 210 x 138 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Jhaveri Contemporary.
Performances – Choreography by Wan-Lun Yu
On 17 and 27 May, 4, 18 and 25 June, 9 and 16 July and 12 and 13 August, there will be performances by Brussels-based dancer Wan-Lun Yu, who represents the character created by Dawood, the Mutant, which appears throughout the exhibition. She embodies a kind of real-life avatar.
Miranda Sharp. Courtesy UBIK Productions | Shezad Dawood, Night in the Garden of Love, 2023. Performance rehearsal, Choreographer and Dancer: Wan-Lun Yu. Costume: Ahluwalia.
Wiels
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm.
Every first Wednesday of the month until 9pm.
Avenue Van Volxem 354
1190 Brussels
wiels.org
Wiels
