Kour Pour b. 1987

Kour Pour is a British-Iranian-American artist whose work is deeply rooted in the rich tapestry of global cultural exchanges. Growing up in a mixed-race household and newly American, Pour's experience as an immigrant is central to his practice. His art draws from a wide array of visual languages, including Islamic patterning, Japanese woodblock prints, and Korean Minhwa folk art. These influences are meticulously woven into his paintings and sculptures through a blend of hand-cut block prints, silkscreened images, and traditional techniques. His work explores the fluid boundaries between cultures and identities, creating hybrid artworks that highlight the interconnectedness of diverse artist traditions. This spirit of gathering is echoed in Pour’s project, Guest House, an exhibition platform run out of his Inglewood studio complex. A way to foster community, Guest House brings the tenets of Pour’s practice into the social space and highlights the cultural exchange in Los Angeles’s creative landscape. 

Kour Pour received his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design. Select solo exhibitions include Nazarian / Curcio, Los Angeles, CA; Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL; Gallery 1957, London, UK; and Shrine/Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY. Pour’s work was recently included in Spirit House at Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA. Additional group exhibitions include Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL; Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and Dastan’s Basement, Tehran, Iran. Pour’s work has been reviewed in The Brooklyn Rail, Galerie Magazine, Hypebeast, Newcity Art, Architectural Digest, ARTnews, Tokyo Weekender, and Ocula. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Art Jameel Collection, UAE; The Bunker Artspace, USA; Hood Museum, Hanover, NH; Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, Bangladesh; Orange County Museum of Art, USA; Perez Art Museum Miami, USA; and the Yageo Foundation, Taiwan. 

His contributions to contemporary art extend beyond exhibitions, with several publications dedicated to his work, such as Kour Pour, published by Skira in 2019, and Decoration Never Dies, Anyway, published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture in 2017. Pour has also been a part of numerous lectures and public programs, including the Artist Lecture Series at NYC Crit Club in 2022 and Roski Talks at the University of Southern California in 2021.

Kour Pour: Cosmic Diagrams opens at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada on February 25, 2025. The exhibition features three monumental paintings that blend elements of Persian carpets, mandalas, and zodiac charts, drawing inspiration from celestial and terrestrial designs from diverse artistic traditions to reveal a shared quest across cultures to comprehend our vast, interconnected cosmic order.