Nabil Kanso

In 1980, Kanso established a studio in Atlanta and held several exhibitions. In 1984, he went to Venezuela where his works were shown in Maracaibo (1985), Caracas (1987), and Mérida (1987–88). The exhibitions were an invaluable stimulant in initiating the Journey of Art for Peace through which his works were shown under the auspices of art museums, cultural institutions, and peace centers in extensive solo exhibitions that traveled internationally and particularly in Latin America. Kanso displays his works by covering the entire walls of the exhibition space with his paintings. The installation surrounding the viewer aims to convey the intensity between the reality of the subject matter and the actuality of painting, and reflect the artist's engagement with the canvases whose contents represent his visual life and relationship to conflicting Eastern and Western cultures and traditions.

Among the works of this period are the series South Africa (1980), Apocalyptic Riders (1980), DreamVision (1980–81), Lebanon (1982–83), Apocalypse (1984), Warring Wings (1984–85), Othello (1985), the Cluster Paintings (1986–1988), Leaves from the Theatre of War (1980s), The Dance of Salome (1988), America 500 Years (1989–1991), Kuwait 1990–91, Living Memory (1993–94), Bosnia (1995–96), Portraits (1997–1999), Iraq (2004–2006).

The exhibition of works related by subject and theme projected a sense of overall-ness, a sense of one painting running into another. A reviewer of an exhibition in Maracaibo featuring works from 1976 to 1984, wrote "The synchrony and diachrony of the works cross a still point in which the show is no longer a total of 27 paintings, but only one." A critic viewed the works linkage at an exhibition in Atlanta as "a net, a polyvalence of economic, cultural, political, and sexual discourse." The net is not just a formal manipulation to tie the divergent contents of the paintings together, but "a very real device that grew out of the complex discourse of the paintings and ultimately from the poetics of the painter." At a 10-year survey in Caracas a critic wrote "the installation of Kanso monumental paintings projects an immense space charged with a high level of intensity closely connected to the tension and anxiety that we face in the world today. His apocalyptic paintings offers us a voyage to the hells of our time."

For more than 20 years, the studio was an attractive place for many visitors. A critic described it as "filled with enormous paintings representing a kind of a nightmare about the war in Lebanon, which has been the subject of Kanso's large paintings since the war started in 1975." It is not just the horrors of the war in Lebanon that he is painting, it is as much the disasters of war in Vietnam, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Rows of canvases are swarming with figures fleeing, fighting with each other, eating each other." Another critic observed "canvasses rolled up in great numbers like mummies," and noted the connection between the linen cloth in Egyptian wraps and Kanso's own life. His father founded a linen cloth business in Mexico. In describing a visit to his studio, an art critic wrote "walking around was like taking a tour of Dante's Inferno. With agitated brushstrokes and lurid oranges, Kanso has produced a roomful of frightening images reminiscent of late Goya's mural, all the more menacing because they are over 7 feet tall". A reviewer remarked "Startled is a weak word to describe my reaction. Every wall covered with paintings that reached the ceilings. In some places, the paintings were leaning against each other several deep. Others, lots, rolled up on the floor. It was hard to believe one man had done all of this. It wasn't just that the paintings were large but their content was brilliantly focused, it came from a seeming struggle going on in a landscape that appeared biblical."

The Split of life paintings comprise approximately 80 mural-size paintings executed between 1974 and 1994, and were the main focus of Kanso's work during the 15-year Lebanese Civil War that broke out in 1975 The works are characterized by the consistency and relatedness of their subjects and themes dealing with violence and war. In emphasizing the issues and bringing attention to the destruction, devastation, and suffering resulting from perpetual wars, Kanso took his paintings to various places in extensive exhibitions that traveled widely, particularly in Venezuela and Latin America.

In 1971, Kanso held his first one-man show at the 76th Street Gallery exhibiting 80 paintings that included portraits and nudes in compositions reflecting in varying degrees expressionist, romanticist and symbolist influences. Between 1971 and 1973 he held a series of solo shows that included the Wanderer, Danse Macabre, Birds of Prey, Place des Martyres, and Expressions. Although the exhibitions drew attention and reviews, the lack of sufficient subsistence forced the closing of his studio whose contents including over 700 works were placed in storage, and, eventually, lost or destroyed. Between 1974 and 1979, Kanso took studios in different locations in the Carolinas, Atlanta, and New Orleans producing a large number of paintings. Among the works of this period are the series Vietnam (1974), Lebanon, which he began in 1975, at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War, One-Minute (1978–79) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Jazz suite (1978–79) on jazz music, and Faust (1976–79) comprising over 100 paintings on Goethe's drama.

Early in 1967, Kanso set up a studio on East 20th Street at Gramercy Park South, and in 1968, moved to a larger studio on East 76th Street where it remained until 1974 when it was seized and its contents were placed in storage, and, eventually, lost. For a period he worked in New York and in different cities in the South, and in 1980, he settled Atlanta where he acquired a spacious studio.

In 1966, Kanso moved to New York, and enrolled at New York University where he received BA and MA in art history, philosophy and political science. 1968, he committed himself to painting, acquired a studio in Manhattan, and embarked on developing his ideas and method of painting. Kanso was part of the post-modernist movement, which enveloped music, fine art, film, and writing. Characteristics of this style is stressing "communication" from artist to audience, and throwing out the traditional narrative the "life has meaning". That Creed of Modernism fell apart after skepticism in mankind's inherent goodness came about after the Holocaust.

Nabil Kanso grew up in a house adorned with Italian and Oriental art. In 1961, he went to England, and attended the London Polytechnic studying mathematics and science.

In 1958, Nabil Kanso had to stop going to school in Lebanon due to the civil war. In his biography, he talks about how he spent much of his time at the houses of friends and families doing sketches and painting to pass the day. The Lebanese Civil War gave a lot for young Kanso to paint about. His painting The Vortices of Wrath (Lebanon 1977) is a perfect depiction of the country in a time of war. The dark grays and black make for a gloomy, sad mood. In the center, it appears as though there is a power struggle between rugged figures. There is one power trying to over come the other. The way kanso uses blurry images gives a creepy feel. While in the background it appears as though there are skeleton like figures. His brush strokes are very apparent and give the painting its life even though it is all about death. It is clear that Kanso drew from the time of the war by the way he make the paintings so solemn.

Nabil Kanso (1940-2019) was an American painter. Kanso began his career in New York. His works dealt with contemporary, historical and literary themes, and were marked by figurative imagery executed with spontaneous and vigorous handling of the paint and often done on large-scale formats. They reflected movement and tension embodying intense colors and symbolic forms addressing social, political, and war issues. The Vietnam War and the Lebanese Civil War profoundly affected the development and scope of his themes dealing with violence and war. His long-running Split of Life series encompassed an extensive range of enormous paintings depicting scenes of human brutality and suffering.