Details:

This painting is a collage of elements that references both global art history as well as various interconnected cultural iconographies. Pour has incorporated a tiger into this composition, which suggests a range of art historical and craft traditions, while also serving as a personal reference for the artist.
Unframed
Signed

① Artwork:

Keep your eyes on the moon (study)

This painting, like many works by the artist, is a collage of elements that reference both global art history and various interconnected cultural iconographies. This work was part of Kour Pour: Familiar Spirits, the artist’s debut solo exhibition with Kavi Gupta. The show was conceived around the idea of family—both the families we are born with and also the families we construct as our personal histories unfold. Pour has incorporated a tiger into this composition; the animal was a central motif for the show, immediately suggestive of a range of art historical and craft traditions. But the figure is also a personal reference for the artist.

Pour says that the tiger originates, "from one of my best friends Phil, who is Korean and grew up in Chile. He became a tattoo artist. He has a big Korean tiger tattoo on his belly . . . We met in art school and immediately connected as the eldest siblings of our immigrant families. Although we have different cultural backgrounds, we found that we shared many similar experiences moving to the US and developed a kinship.” Familiar, yet startlingly fresh, this work hints at a shared world of similar stories and different backgrounds, where personal histories are fostered by the families we create.

Specs:

20 inches
30 inches

③ Artist:

Kour Pour

Kour Pour creates paintings and prints that explore forms and techniques from numerous cultures and time periods. His work encompasses diverse subject matter and culturally specific references—ranging from Persian carpets to ukiyo-e prints; and from Western abstraction to Eastern landscape painting. Pour’s global vision weaves together representational imagery, abstract patterning and ornamental elements to create new, hybrid artworks.

BIO:

Kour Pour was born in 1987 and raised in Devon, UK. His father was born in Iran and immigrated to England at age 14 during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Pour’s mother was born in the UK and was raised in the British foster care system. Informed by his upbringing, Pour’s work is conceptually and aesthetically grounded in fostering cultural exchange.

Pour received his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California.

Exhibitions of Pour’s work include: Kour Pour: Familiar Spirits at Kavi Gupta in Chicago, Illinois; Decoration Never Dies, Anyway at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum in Tokyo, Japan; The Go Between at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy; and Returnee at The Club in Tokyo, Japan.

Pour’s work has been reviewed in publications such as The Brooklyn Rail, Architectural Digest, Art in America, W Magazine and Art Das Kunstmagazin.

Pour currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He became an American citizen in 2021.

Kour Pour:
Keep your eyes on the moon (study), 2020
Acrylic on paper
30.0 × 20.0 inches /