15 recent paintings by the Iranian artist Azadeh Razaghdoost's first solo exhibition in the UK

Inspired by 19th century European poetry of the Romantic Age, in particular ”The Sick Rose“ (1794) by British poet William Blake and “Les fleurs du mal“ (1857) by Baudelaire. Through poetry she explores the contradictions inherent to human nature, using the emotional associations of the colour red, a signifier of love, passion and blood, to refer to humanistic states and impulses from health and sickness, to life and death, and love and lust.

Born in 1979 in Tehran, Iran, Azadeh Razaghdoost received her BA in Painting from Tehran’s University of Art in 2002. She currently lives and works in Karaj, Iran. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Vallpalou Foundation, Lleida, Spain and has been widely exhibited internationally.