Kour Pour’s practice evolves around ideological constructions of what has been called the West and the East. Pour, who was born in United Kingdom of Iranian descent and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, is aware of cultural misinterpretations and our human tendency to observe the world through inherited concepts.
In his work the artist combines various symbols from different cultures, which are put together collected from books, catalogues, internet and feature images from different locations, time periods, and cultures. There is no hierarchy between the signs. The artist sources them from different traditions, so that images of hunters and gatherers, ancient warriors, dragons and religious icons are placed next to each other in equality of status.
In order to explore the heritage and the confusion about mutual influences of Western and Asian cultures, Pour searches for influences in Persian miniature paintings – already an amalgamation of influences and styles from other cultures – and combines them with the contemporary abstraction embedded in the Western tradition.
As well as many artists such as Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, and Toulouse-Lautrec, Pour too was attracted to the old Japanese ukiyo-e technique. By highlighting a Japanese technique and using it to produce works that are visually based in what is generally thought of as a Western aesthetic, the paintings question ideas of originality and complicate the connection between appearance and identity.