Kaoru Mansour's Adore: Closing Reception Saturday, June, 20th 3-5pm

LAUNCH Gallery is proud to present Los Angeles based artist, Kaoru Mansour, an immigrant from Japan, who brings a wealth of creativity and life experience to their unique art-making perspective.

In her new series, Adore, Kaoru Mansour continues her ambitious artistic journey creating hybrids of figurative and abstract painting styles to represent the complex human condition of contemporary American culture from her unique multidisciplinary perspective.

I start with washi paper on the canvas or wooden panel, and then make gestural markings or ‘stains’ with acrylic paint. I then begin to add abstract markings with colored pencil and regular pencil. While I am drawing these abstract shapes, some figurative shapes come to mind and then a story emerges.  The inspiration for the title “Adore” came from spending more time with my aging mother and her cat. The last couple of years I have spent more time with my mother in Japan. After recently losing my father, my mother began living alone for the first time at age 88. She has a former stray cat who is extremely frightened and shy around strangers. Observing this relationship between my fragile mother and her equally fragile and aloof cat, always moves me deeply in my heart and feeds my creativity. ~ Kaoru Mansour

About the Artist

Growing up in a small village in Hyogo prefecture, Japan, Kaoru Mansour was always interested in creating things from scratch. Her earliest memory of making art is gluing heart-shaped cutouts to the walls of her parents' house at the age of seven. She studied sciences in college but dropped out after two years and began working in graphic design while singing at local nightclubs in Kobe, eventually earning herself a contract with RCA records in Japan. Once her contract ended in 1986, she moved to Southern California where she soon became a part of the experimental music scene. Despite her musical endeavors, she maintained a passion for creating visual art and enrolled in extracurricular classes at the Otis Art Institute. She has been working as full-time visual artist since 1994.

LAUNCH LA believes exposure to the arts enhances quality of life and strengthens community for all through the shared appreciation of creative expression in all its forms and hybrids. LAUNCH LA is passionate about providing all artists regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation with quality opportunities to present themselves and their creations that reflect our times to a curious and enthusiastic audience at important happenings throughout Los Angeles.