Shezad Dawood Named As Patina Resident Artist At Inaugural London Event

Shezad Dawood has been named as the first artist to win the Patina Art Residency, a brand new annual art award from Patina Hotels & Resorts, created to champion those whose work reflects a commitment to impact and sustainability.

The Residency winner is chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, featuring some of the world's leading art patrons and leaders, chaired by Maria Sukkar, Co-Chair of the TATE Middle East North Africa Acquisitions Committee.  

Dawood was presented as the Patina Resident Artist 2025 at a private gathering of collectors, patrons and art world luminaries in London, 9th October.

“Shezad Dawood is the winner of the inaugural Patina Art Residency for his visionary ability to weave worlds — fluid, luminous, and deeply human. His practice dissolves the boundaries between disciplines and geographies, inviting us into spaces where myth meets science, and the personal becomes planetary,” said Maria Sukkar. “His work embodies the spirit of Fluid Worlds: porous, interconnected, and alive with imagination. In choosing him, the jury honours not only an artist, but a storyteller of our time - one who reminds us that art, like water, finds its way through everything.” 

The theme of this year’s edition, Fluid Worlds examines how boundaries shift and change, whether between cultures, ideas, or elements - and the location of the residency could scarcely have been more apt for an artist that has spent the past decade talking to and being influenced by marine biologists and environmentalists. As Dawood mentions, “The chance to do extended ‘field work’ in the Maldives, supported by the Patina Residency, is a unique opportunity to have a meaningful relationship with the endangered reef systems of the islands, meet with local coral researchers and communities, and build on this through a daily drawing and painting practice responding to a mixture of conversations and visceral stimuli.”

Born in London in 1974, Dawood received his training at Central St Martin’s and the Royal College of Art before pursuing a PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University. As a multidisciplinary artist, he blends stories, realities, and symbolism to craft intricately layered artworks, with a keen interest in ecologies and architecture. His work adopts a philosophical perspective, posing questions and exploring alternative futures through what he terms 'world-building'. His selected solo exhibitions and commissions include: A Garden of the Floating World, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai (2025); Leviathan, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury (2023); Night in the Garden of Love, Inspired by & featuring Yusef Lateef, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2023) and WIELS, Brussels (2023); Integrations, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul (2023); and HMS Alice Liddell, St Pancras Wires commission, London (2022). 

Convened by Darius Sanai, proprietor of Quartet Consulting, the full jury for 2025-26 comprised: 

• Maria Sukkar, Co-Chair of the TATE Middle East North Africa Acquisitions Committee and owner of the iSelf Collection 

• Alan Lo, collector, entrepreneur and co-founder of the YAL Foundation in Singapore 

• Arturo Galansino, Director of the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence 

• Charlotte Colbert, award-winning filmmaker and multimedia artist 

• Christian Levett, Florence-based collector, philanthropist and owner of the FAMM Museum in the South of France and the Christian Levett Collection 

• Hubert Bonnet, Brussels-based entrepreneur, philanthropist, and collector and founder of the Fondation CAB in Belgium 

• Ilaria Ferragamo, collector and designer based in London and Tuscany 

• Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, founder of philanthropic community Spirit Now London 

• Masha Nosova, next-gen investor and collector, based in London, Monaco and Dubai 

• Sana Rezwan, Founder of the Public Arts Trust of India and the Jodhpur and Jaipur Arts Weeks 

• Sarah Von Boetticher, Germany-based collector (Von Boetticher Collection) and art historian