Peacock Manali Melnikov I

Meadow Arts Commissions, 2013

Shezad Dawood has created two new ‘textile paintings’ in response to Kedleston. He has always been interested in the work of Robert Adam, and how architecture creates a set of influences all of its own. He was struck by the octagonal compartments of the Saloon dome, making a link from this to his own research on the Melnikov house in Moscow (a key constructivist landmark), where the same shapes are found in different contexts.  Manali Melnikov now hangs above a painting of Kedleston, Adam’s architectural masterpiece.

Dawood was further inspired by Lady Curzon’s famous Peacock Dress, worn by her at the Delhi Darbar in 1903: Dawood played with the pattern in one of his paintings, which use vintage textiles as their basis. His textiles, like the dress, encode a narrative of how they were made and how they arrived at Kedleston.

 

About the artist

Shezad Dawood

Shezad Dawood exhibited in Shakti, Kedleston Hall, 2014, commissioned by Meadow Arts.

Image: Shezad Dawood, Peacock Manali Melnikov I. Acrylic on vintage textile. Courtesy the artist. Meadow Arts commission 2013.