Shezad Dawood's Through Pierced Flesh and Skin of Dreams is an installation of five paintings on suspended textiles. [Photo/China Daily]

In his first solo show in China, British multimedia artist Shezad Dawood presents 'alien greetings' on textiles. Deng Zhangyu reports.

In Shezad Dawood's sci-fi film Piercing Brightness, two aliens with Chinese facial features start their Earth adventure from Preston in northeastern England.

In his first solo show in China, the multimedia artist brings to the ancient city of Xi'an a special version of the film together with "alien greetings" drawn on textiles.

London-based Dawood, 40, held his show at OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi'an on Nov 1. The artist presented three of his large-scale textile works, including two textile paintings used as screens to project videos on, three films and a neon installation.

His Through Pierced Flesh and Skin of Dreams is an installation of five paintings on suspended textiles.

His textile works echo with the history of Xi'an, in China's northwestern Shaanxi province, through which the famous Silk Road once carried silk fabrics to much of Asia and Europe, according to Karen Smith, director of the Xi'an art facility, where the exhibition is being held.

Dawood's experimental films also connect with the city that has a strong filmmaking tradition, she adds. Renowned Chinese film directors Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei were both born in Xi'an and spent their early years in the city of landmark cultural draws such as the Terracotta Warriors.

Although different from Zhang and Gu, Dawood's film and video works look to explore any connection between the past, present and future. Piercing Brightness, for instance, is set in Preston, where the biggest number of UFOs in the United Kingdom are said to have been sighted, according to popular tales and unverified media reports.

The city also has a growing population of immigrants from China.