Kour Pour
Onnagata
GNYP Gallery
Knesebeckstrasse 96, 10623 Berlin
April 28 – June 25, 2016
Reception: April 28, 6-9 pm

GNYP Gallery presents Onnagata, an exhibition of new paintings by Kour Pour. In a new series, Pour has used the Japanese Ukiyo-e printing process to produce eight large abstract paintings. The abstraction, which appears to reference an American/European tradition and brand of painting, is actually a translation of earthquake and volcano maps produced by the Japanese Geological Survey. The series is titled Tectonic paintings, to complement the shifting and overlapping of aesthetic terms with this physical metaphor of transformation; Onnagata, the exhibition title, is the Japanese word for male kabuki actors who play female roles in Japanese theater. Alongside the eight new paintings, Pour presents the printing platforms themselves, stained and marked by the printing process.
 

Japonisme 2, 2016. Block printing, ink on canvas, 214.5 x 162 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.

Japonisme 3, 2016. Block printing, ink on canvas, 214.5 x 162 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.

Rising Sun (Pacific Ocean), 2015. Block printing, ink on canvas, 211 x 175 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.

Miyako, 2015. Block printing, ink on canvas, 206 x 170.5 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.

Six Months, 2015-2016. Printing platform, 244 x 213 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.

Nine Months, 2016. Printing platform, 244 x 213 centimeters. Courtesy of GNYP Gallery.