Head of the Boxer: paintings by Taro Qureshi at Oxford House

Paintings by Taro Qureshi

Taro Qureshi is an artist ill at ease with modern society.

His anger and frustration he channels into his work, with collages, illustrations and abstract paintings that reveal a profound sense of alienation.

Head of the Boxer, the East London artist’s latest exhibition, opens at Oxford House in Bethnal Green in February. Qureshi’s style draws on movements such as expressionism and surrealism, yet within it all there is a clear voice and strong sense of originality.

Qureshi’s parents, both psychotherapists, kept a large store of drawing materials in their home so that their patients could envisage their sufferings on paper. It was using these materials that Qureshi first found his inspiration as a child.

Little wonder then that Qureshi’s work focuses on unconscious thought and spontaneous creation. He places emphasis on psychological freedom, and the exhibition aims to be a record of all those disorientating, negative thoughts that arise from a life spent in an urban metropolis.

Politicians and corruption are the main focus of Qureshi’s ire, manifested in the exhibition through snippets of conversations and newspaper headlines.

Head of the Boxer is at Oxford House, Bethnal Green, Derbyshire Street, E2 6HG until 29 February.

One 4 The Road: artwork by Taro Qureshi