Press Release by Depart Foundation
Depart Foundation will present Kour Pour's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, curated by Nicola Ricciardi.
Opening concurrently with Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2015, the exhibition by British-Iranian, Los Angeles-based Pour will include new paintings and related installation works that continue the artist's recent carpet painting series. In the first iteration of this series the carpet imagery was directly appropriated from exhibition and auction catalogs. The paintings in this show are composed in Photoshop using imagery found online and from clip art CD-ROMs to create original carpet designs in which iconic motifs and symbols from different time periods and regions of the world are juxtaposed to flatten time, space, and location.
Pour’s paintings incorporate months of painstaking work and include techniques that culminate in a complex, yet delicately executed surface. Each piece begins by etching the rug’s warp and weft into the under-painting using a broomstick, effectively mimicking a woven texture. After transferring a silkscreen print of the design over the textured surface, the artist begins the meticulous process of hand painting each figure and pattern. To finish off the work an electrical sander is used to erase areas of the painting's surface, creating a fictional history that resembles the "aging" process undertaken by forgers of antiquities. Depart Foundation is pleased to be a cultural partner of Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2015. A press release announcing further exhibition details is forthcoming.
ABOUT KOUR POUR
Kour Pour (b. 1987) is a British born, part-Iranian artist. He graduated from Otis College of Art and Design and lives and works in Los Angeles. Pour’s work involves the meticulous, detailed and elaborate large-scale painting of Persian rugs which take several months to complete, incorporating many techniques including an under-painting using a broomstick, silkscreen printing, sanding and hand painting. His works have been included in group exhibitions at Roberts & Tilton and Steve Turner Gallery in Los Angeles. Pour’s first solo exhibition was presented at UNT/TLED Gallery, New York in 2014 and he was the youngest artist featured in the 2014 Artists to Watch exhibition in Miami. In October 2014, Pour's exhibition Ozymandias was presented at Ellis King, Dublin.
ABOUT NICOLA RICCIARDI
Nicola Ricciardi (b. 1985) is an art critic and curator. He received a M.A. from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) in New York in 2014 and he currently lives in Milan, Italy. He contributes regularly for several art magazines and he is Editor-in-chief at “Carnet de miart”, the official digital publication of Milan’s International Modern and Contemporary Art Fair. In April 2015 Nicola will become Director at Stackwood’s, a soon to be opened residency program in Milan dedicated to art and literary criticism whose goal is to promote slower forms of knowledge, production and circulation.
DEPART FOUNDATION
Depart Foundation is an emerging arts organization predicated on the discussion, exhibition and production of art and is dedicated to the development and support of contemporary artists whose work and careers are departing from their previous endeavors or predecessors. Since its founding in 2008, Depart Foundation has served as a catalyst for the Italian art and cultural community, strengthening the dialogue between Italy and the international art world. Like multiple outposts in Europe and U.S., Depart Foundation has actively encouraged artistic production through sponsorship of young and established artists and the provision of spaces and resources conducive to the research, production and exhibition of new work and to the presentation of educational and public programs. Some of the most interesting and dynamic artists of our time, from around the world, have been presented for the first time in Rome by Depart Foundation. They include Cory Arcangel, Joe Bradley, Nate Lowman, Ryan McGinley, Tauba Auerbach, Darren Bader, Louis Eisner, Roe Ethridge, Sam Falls, Mark Flood, Elias Hansen, Brendan Lynch, Oscar Murillo, Sarah Braman, Seth Price, Jon Rafman, Stephen G. Rhodes, Amanda Ross-Ho, Sterling Ruby, Lucien Smith, Valerie Snobeck, Frances Stark, Oscar Tuazon, Cao Fei, Mario Garcia Torres and many others. The Depart Foundation has supported the Italian art community, presented local artists in cities as far as New York and Los Angeles and collaborated with important art institutions in Italy and beyond including, among others, the Macro and MAXXI museums in Rome, the American Academy in Rome, the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.