Subtly provocative art

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In his first solo exhibition in London, British artist Shezad Dawood presents a series of paintings called American Wild West. That is, small paintings of outlaw figures with close-set eyes and prominent jaws; a figure wielding a rifle and a picture of a stag, the trophy object of life on the wild frontiers.

Each picture is painted with a black background and in cold, gold and blue-tinged colours that are heavily reminiscent of the 16th and 17th-century painter El Greco. Shown in a darkened gallery, the pictures are spotlit, so they also remind you of religious-icon paintings. This association with religion is apt, since, in the middle of this darkened space, are four vitrines containing neon-lit signs embedded in tumbleweed. Each sign (pictured) is in Arabic and relates to Islam's 99 Names of God.

Perhaps one of the things Dawood suggests is that an image of violence underpins our impressions of both US history and the wider world of Islam - though it remains up to the individual viewer what to make of this subtly provocative yet elusive exhibition.

Until Jan 20, Paradise Row, St Matthew's Hall, 17 Hereford Street (off Cheshire Street) E2, Wed to Sun noon to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 7613 3311. Tube: Liverpool Street

Shezad Dawood: If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Paradise Row
Newman Street, W1T 3EL