Kour Pour, Nowruz, 2021; Hand Embellished, Signed, and Numbered Limited Edition Print

Inspired by his personal experience of living between cultures, Kour Pour’s practice is a meditation on global exchange, identity, and migration. His visually complex paintings, prints, sculptures and collages draw upon non-Western craft and decorative traditions as a way of reevaluating their assigned value in relationship to that of European and American art. While Iranian carpet motifs frequent these works, they are intended not as a reflection of his upbringing, and instead of the journeys shared universally by immigrants. In Pour’s own words, “The rug is something that you roll up, put under your arm, carry with you, and then unroll when you arrive at your new destination—your new home.”

Nowruz, titled in honor of the Iranian New Year, features a cropped view of a painting that Pour created to replicate an elaborate sixteenth-century carpet found within LACMA’s permanent collection. A range of flora, fauna and mythical beings from various regions—for instance, the Persian Simurgh and the Japanese Kirin—are depicted in a dynamic display that brings together life from multiple worlds. Each print is additionally silkscreened and embellished by the artist, to imbue the edition with an additional layer of color and texture. Pour’s work has been exhibited internationally, at venues such as the American Academy in Rome, the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum.

ART FOR CHANGE will donate 20% of the net proceeds of each limited edition print sold to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. This limited series is part of AFC’s Changemakers collaboration with Pari Ehsan.