SHEZAD DAWOOD: It was a time that was a time September 11 – November 1, 2015

Opening Reception: September 11, 6-9pm

Presented as part of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)’s 2015 Crossing the Line festival.

BROOKLYN (August 10, 2015)—Pioneer Works is pleased to present It was a time that was a time, a solo exhibition by London-based artist Shezad Dawood, on view at the center’s main exhibition space September 11 - November 21, 2015. Through an expansive presentation of new and recent works—collaborative film experiments, textile panels and neon wall pieces—the exhibition explores speculative futures and questions traditional notions of history and ritual, image and icon, time and space. This exhibition marks Dawood’s first solo exhibition in the US.

It was a time that was a time borrows its title from Dawood’s new film of the same name (2015, 16:27 mins), which was commissioned by Pioneer Works and made while Dawood was an artist-in-residence. The film is the result of a free-form, collaborative filmmaking experiment, whereby participants took turns documenting each other living in a speculative community formed in response to a theoretical environmental cataclysm, with devices that might have survived a devastating flood. As the artist explained, in this possible post-apocalyptic community, surviving on the periphery of New York, “rules of society, gender and relationships are given new expression.”

Operating on the borders between speculative realism and performance, the piece was primarily filmed on Coney Island in the aquarium that was notoriously flooded during Hurricane Sandy. Participants and collaborators included Brooklyn-based artists, costume designers and choreographers, as well as youth participating in Red Hook Initiative—a nonprofit that organizes empowerment programs for the neighborhood. The film also features an experimental score by Weyes Blood.

As Director of Pioneer Works Gabriel Florenz explained: “It was a time that was a time was born out of Red Hook. After Shezad’s first visit to Pioneer Works, we ventured to the abandoned buildings and beaches of Fort Tilden and talked about the reverberations of Hurricane Sandy. Soon after, as an artist-in-residence at Pioneer Works, Shezad, engaged directly with our Red Hook community still deeply affected by the storm. Both participatory and experimental, the film resonates on many levels, challenging systems of signification as well as the process of filmmaking itself. It’s an honor to debut Dawood’s work here, in this neighborhood, and at this time.”

The exhibition also features two of Dawood’s earlier films that employ a similar collaborative methodology and approach. A Mystery Play (2010, 14:02 mins) involves the artistic and performance community of Winnipeg and explores the city’s Masonic, Vaudevillian, and magical histories. In 7669 (2013, 3:23 mins), Dawood imagines the possibility of re-incarnation and the persistence of past lives in the subconscious, enacting a final chain of haptic memories form of a multi-dimensional being.

In addition to the films, the exhibition presents a series of textile paintings and neon wall works, which draw on Dawood’s research into signs, symbols, and juxtapositions of meaning in order to encourage alternative ways to perceiving - or reading - the world. The neon work Black Sun (2010) simultaneously resembles a circle, a letter and a void. The lines of Ville Urbaine (2010) map out a mystical trajectory that simultaneously recalls formal abstraction, architecture and sacred geometry, alluding to a mapping of a city of the future.

Similar to Dawood’s neon works, hanging and wall-mounted textiles conjoin geometric shapes and structures with corporate logos, cargo ships, and Egyptian references, confusing cultural codes and contexts. Pierced Flesh and Skin of Dreams (2014), an installation of five sequential hanging textile works, invites viewers to make their own associations prompted by unexpected relationships between mixed imagery and stitched patterns. The title of the work refers to oral histories of body art as well as to surrealist writer Raymond Queneau's definition of cinema as the “skin of dreams.”

OPENING RECEPTION: September 11, 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.

Pioneer Works thanks the French Institute Alliance Fraçaise (FIAF) for its generous support to this exhibition. A Time that Was A Time is part of the official program for Crossing The Line, a fall festival organized by FIAF that presents interdisciplinary works and performances in New York.

About Shezad Dawood Shezad Dawood (b. 1974) received his MA from Royal College of Art, London, and a doctorate in fine art from Leeds Metropolitan University. His work has been exhibited internationally, including the Taipei Biennial (2014), Marrakech Biennial (2014) MACBA Barcelona (2014), MoMA PS1 (2014), Witte de With (2013), Modern Art Oxford (2012), Busan Biennale (2010), Tate Britain (2009), and the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). His further extensive exhibitions include interventions in cities such as Tangiers, Mumbai, Karachi, Hamburg, and Singapore. Recent projects include feature film Piercing Brightness (2013), a solo exhibition at Parasol Unit, London, Leeds Art Gallery (2014) and at OCAT Xi’an, China (2014). Dawood is a Jarman Award nominee (2012) and one of the winners of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2011). He currently lives and works in London, where he is Senior Research Fellow in Experimental Media at the University of Westminster.’ http://shezaddawood.com/

About Pioneer Works Pioneer Works is a center for research and experimentation in contemporary culture. Through a broad range of exhibitions, performances, arts and science residencies, and educational programs, Pioneer Works seeks to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, foster community, and provide a space where alternative modes of thought are supported and activated in tangible ways. Founded in 2012 by artist Dustin Yellin, Pioneer Works is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) located in a 25,000 square-feet manufacturing warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. About Crossing the Line Crossing the Line is the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)’s annual fall festival, presenting interdisciplinary works and performances in New York. The festival explores the dialogue between artist and public, and examines how artists help re-imagine the world as critical thinkers and catalysts for social evolution. Crossing the Line is initiated and produced by FIAF in partnership with leading cultural institutions. The festival’s ninth edition takes place this year from September 10–October 4, 2015. fiaf.org/ctl

PIONEER WORKS 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11231 www.pioneerworks.org

MEDIA CONTACT Molly Rowe molly@hellothirdeye.com

HOURS Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday Free and open to the public