SELECTED NEWS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 – AMADOUR featured on the cover of The Argonaut — “The Myth of Amadour”
The Argonaut, Westside Los Angeles’ leading arts and culture newspaper, published Amadour’s first cover story, The Myth of Amadour: Artist effortlessly travels between genres, with text by Christina Fuoco-Karasinski. This in-depth feature highlights Amadour’s polymath practice across painting, music, and writing, and cements their position as both “The Voice of Nevada” and “The High Desert Balladeer.” With powerful photography by Christopher Mortenson, the piece situates Amadour within a lineage of artists whose work is at once cinematic, poetic, and deeply personal.
SEPTEMBER 11–14, 2025 – AMADOUR at Tokyo Gendai with KOTARO NUKAGA — A Global Spotlight on New Paintings
Amadour joins KOTARO NUKAGA at the third edition of Tokyo Gendai, Japan’s premier international art fair, held at PACIFICO Yokohama from September 12–14, 2025, with a VIP Preview and Vernissage on September 11. Bringing together the best in contemporary art from Japan and around the world, Tokyo Gendai serves as a global platform for artistic, cultural, and intellectual exchange. This year, KOTARO NUKAGA presents a curated selection of artists whose work reflects powerful conceptual depth and striking visual language, including new paintings by Amadour alongside Candida Höfer, Beverly Fishman, Takehito Koganezawa, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Yohei Chimura, Sputniko!, Rember Yahuarcani, Tomona Matsukawa, Alexa Hatanaka, Keita Morimoto, Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho, Takako Araki, and Kimiyo Mishima. Booth No. B01.
California Incline Bridge, 2025, Acrylic, Graphite and Gold Leaf on Linen, exhibited at Tokyo Gendai 2025 with Kotaro Nukaga
SEPTEMBER 6, 2025 – AMADOUR LIVE AT NORTHERN NEVADA PRIDE 2025
Amadour takes the main stage at Northern Nevada Pride 2025 in Reno for a landmark hometown performance that bridges past and future. Set for Saturday, September 6, this highly anticipated show brings Amadour’s orchestral pop sound to the heart of the Silver State, where their story began.
Known for their cinematic ballads and poetic lyrics, Amadour will present selections from their forthcoming EP The Myth of Amadour: Odyssey of a High Desert Balladeer, alongside fan favorites from their debut release Western Movie Dream. With themes of queer love, desert landscapes, and self-discovery, Amadour’s performance transforms the Pride stage into a reflective and radiant space of storytelling.
Special thanks to Our Center Reno and the Northern Nevada Pride Board for making this unforgettable performance possible.
Northern Nevada Pride 2025 Screenprint by Amadour
September 4, 2025 – AMADOUR’s First Live TV Performance: “Silver as Gold” on KOLO 8 News
In a KOLO Channel 8 News feature, journalist Katey Roshetko interviewed Amadour about their musical upbringing in Reno. Known as the High Desert Balladeer, Amadour made their first live television appearance on KOLO’s Morning Break, performing the original ballad “Silver as Gold.” Written about being from Nevada while also living in California, the song reflects on self-discovery, acceptance, loving one’s younger self, and finding truth through memory and place. The broadcast came just ahead of Amadour’s main stage debut at Northern Nevada Pride on September 6.
During the segment, Amadour also announced their upcoming orchestral pop EP, The Myth of Amadour: Odyssey of a High Desert Balladeer, which will be recorded this fall in Budapest with a 55-piece orchestra under the direction of Oslo-based Mexican composer and arranger Alan G. Frausto. Rooted in their Nevada upbringing and diasporic heritage, Amadour’s practice bridges song, landscape, and identity, giving voice to personal and collective histories alike.
Amadour singing “Silver as Gold” on KOLO 8 News Morning Break
August 22, 2025 – AMADOUR Launches Étoile Collaboration with Luxury Brand Chalonne
Amadour has collaborated with luxury brand Chalonne on the release of the Étoile, a limited-edition Apple Watch band that bridges fine art and wearable design. This exclusive piece features original artwork by the Los Angeles–based multidisciplinary artist, whose practice is shaped by their Nevada upbringing, diasporic heritage, and lifelong fascination with light, landscape, and memory.
The Étoile band distills the essence of Amadour’s vision, drawing on the theatrical grandeur of early 20th-century Paris, the spirit of geometric abstraction, and Southern California’s Light and Space movement. Its bold black-and-white design recalls Matisse’s cut-outs, Beardsley’s decadent linework, and the stylized elegance of Erté, while also referencing Amadour’s celebrated Ink Terrain Drawings series (2017–ongoing).
Étoile by Amadour, Apple Watch Band ©Chalonne
August 8, 2025 – AMADOUR awarded Nevada Arts Council Grant for Artists
Amadour has been awarded the Nevada Arts Council Project Grant for Artists, a distinction that celebrates their deep connection to Nevada’s cultural landscape and the narratives that define their work. This support will help to fund their upcoming orchestral recording projects, continuing their practice of weaving together history, place, and personal memory, overlooked stories, and layered histories that have long inspired them. Receiving this recognition from their home state is both humbling and galvanizing, marking an exciting momentum in the next chapter of their practice.
Amadour recording at The Noise Floor at Gabriola Island, BC
July 4, 2025 – KOLO: “AMADOUR set to teach yarn art work shop for kids during Artown” by Katey Roshetko
In this KOLO Channel 8 Morning Break segment, Amadour shares details about their upcoming children’s workshop at the Nevada Museum of Art as part of Artown 2025. The event, Yarn Art Workshop: Exploring Geometric Abstraction and Land Art, invites kids ages 6 to 12 to engage with shapes, color, and landscape through hands-on artmaking. Sponsored by Ms. Dan’s Chinese, the free program will be held Sunday, July 13, from 12–3 p.m., with limited spots available.
In conversation with host Katey Roshetko, Amadour discussed the importance of art accessibility, the value of uplifting local artists, and the power of returning to one’s community to share knowledge. In addition to the museum program, Amadour will lead outreach workshops at the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Nevada, where more than 400 children will participate, as part of their commitment to nurturing the next generation of artists in the region that shaped them.
Amadour on the set of KOLO 8 News, Reno, Nevada - July 4, 2025
June 27, 2025 – AMADOUR Performs Live at The Viper Room, Los Angeles
Amadour returns to the stage for their first Los Angeles performance in years, live at iconic venue The Viper Room in West Hollywood. This special Pride Month show marks a cinematic and deeply personal chapter in Amadour’s musical journey.
Set against the backdrop of one of the most legendary venues in music history—soon to be demolished, this one-night-only performance offers a stripped-down set of vocals and keys, previewing new work from their forthcoming second EP: The Myth of Amadour: Odyssey of a High Desert Balladeer.
Amadour will debut live performances of several new songs, including:
“Angel Eyes,” “Someone Left to Love,” “Downtown Lover,” and more.
With lyrics steeped in memory, longing, and place, Amadour blends orchestral ballads with dreamlike pop, delivering a sound that’s as visual as it is emotional. The upcoming EP is being developed in collaboration with orchestral arranger Alan G. Frausto, and will culminate in a full studio recording this fall featuring the 53-piece Pannonia Film Orchestra in Budapest, Hungary.
This Viper Room performance offers an intimate glimpse into the heart of what’s to come—before the orchestra, before the full production, before the tour.
Amadour Live at The Viper Room
May 11, 2025 – THE CORSAIR: “Amadour: An interdisciplinary artist shaped by SMC and exploring queer identity through art” by Katie Easterson
In The Corsair, journalist Katie Easterson highlights Amadour as a powerful creative force whose art, music, and storytelling are deeply rooted in queer identity, cultural heritage, and personal resilience. The article explores how SMC served as a pivotal launchpad for Amadour’s practice, shaping the foundations of their now-expansive career in painting, songwriting, and writing.
Blending Mexican and Colombian influences with geometric abstraction, Amadour’s works often echo the architectural rhythms of Santa Monica and Reno—featuring archways, vivid color blocking, and gold leaf textures that evoke memory, loss, and light. The feature traces their journey from drawing “manas” as a child in Reno to developing The Mapes Suite, an ambitious visual and musical project centered on Black, queer, and Hollywood histories in Nevada.
Openly nonbinary and deeply introspective, Amadour speaks candidly about identity, queerness, and making art from a place of emotional honesty. Their forthcoming album I Was Born in the Silver and I Died There Too includes original ballads like “Someone Left to Love” and “I Want to Be Your Sailor”—songs that offer rare, lyrical perspectives on queer longing, familial grief, and chosen connection.
The Corsair feature affirms Amadour’s commitment to building a body of work that functions as both archive and portal: a sacred space for others to feel seen. As the artist states, “Even in the moments where you feel the most fear or inadequacy… create. Because sometimes that's the most powerful thing you can do.”
Amadour in the studio, provided by The Corsair
April 23, 2025 – Santa Monica College In Focus: “Amadour: Painter, Pianist, Troubadour”
In SMC In Focus (Volume XI, Issue 2) spotlights Amadour as a rising multidisciplinary artist whose work transcends traditional categories. The article explores how Amadour’s practice seamlessly fuses painting, storytelling, and musical composition to excavate memory, illuminate overlooked histories, and create deeply resonant emotional landscapes.
Santa Monica College highlights Amadour’s profound connection to Southern California’s geography and light, and their ability to weave personal and diasporic narratives through geometric abstraction and lyrical soundscapes. Recognized by the college as an emerging cultural voice, Amadour’s work continues to expand the conversation around identity, place, and resilience.
Portrait of artist Amadour in Virginia City, Nevada, provided by Viviana Rusk.
APRIL 19, 2025 – AMADOUR Cited in International Publications ArtReview and Monthly Art
Amadour’s critical writings and interviews have been cited in leading international art publications, marking a significant moment of recognition for their contributions to contemporary discourse.
In ArtReview, Amadour’s interview with Gabrielle Goliath was referenced by author Stephanie Bailey in the article “Gabrielle Goliath: Working in Trauma’s Wake” (2025), which explores artistic responses to collective memory and healing.
In Monthly Art (South Korea), Amadour’s interview with Gala Porras-Kim was cited by author Suyeong Lim in “Multilayered Perspectives: Gala Porras-Kim” (2025), situating their dialogue within broader conversations around cultural stewardship and artistic interpretation.
These citations underscore Amadour’s growing presence not only as a practicing artist and musician, but also as a critical voice shaping the global conversation around art, identity, and memory.
References:
Amadour holding ArtReview (April 2025) at the Getty Research Institute
March 12, 2025 – The Nevada SageBrush: “Amadour: The Voice Of Nevada’s Forgotten Histories” by Emily Hess
In a compelling feature for The Nevada Sagebrush, journalist Emily Hess spotlights Amadour as “The Voice of Nevada’s Forgotten Histories.” The article explores Amadour’s interdisciplinary approach to art and music, their deep-rooted connection to Nevada, and their commitment to illuminating overlooked narratives—particularly those of queer and Black histories.
Hess details how Amadour’s work bridges geometric abstraction, storytelling, and music to bring visibility to these histories, positioning them as an artist whose impact extends beyond traditional boundaries. The piece also highlights their upcoming project The Mapes Suite and the ways in which their work challenges and reshapes Nevada’s cultural landscape.
Portrait of artist Amadour, provided by Kaitlin Saragusa/BFA.com.
February 28, 2025 – KOLO: "Reno Native Returns to UNR for Artist Talk Featuring Special Project on The Mapes Suite" by Katey Roshetko
In this KOLO Channel 8 News feature, Katey Roshetko covers Amadour’s return to the University of Nevada, Reno for a special artist talk, where they discussed their multidisciplinary practice and the development of The Mapes Suite, a project exploring Reno’s lost architectural and cultural landmarks. The sit-down television interview highlighted Amadour’s connection to Nevada’s artistic landscape and their commitment to preserving overlooked histories through art and music.
Amadour at the KOLO News Channel 8 TV Station, Reno
December 23, 2024 – Sierra Sun: "Amadour: A Multidisciplinary Artist Bridging Music and Art" by Zoe Meyer
In this feature, Zoe Meyer of the Sierra Sun explores Amadour’s unique ability to bridge the worlds of visual art and music, seamlessly integrating geometric abstraction, performance, and storytelling. The article highlights Amadour’s deep ties to Nevada, their international art exhibitions, and their emerging presence in music, solidifying their role as a cultural force across multiple disciplines.
Amadour reading the Sierra Sun at Lake Tahoe
SEPTEMBER 6-8, 2024 – AMADOUR Exhibits with KOTARO NUKAGA at The Armory Show, New York
KOTARO NUKAGA returns to The Armory Show 2024 in New York City with a dynamic presentation featuring nine international artists: Keita Morimoto, Tomona Matsukawa, Nanami Inoue, Kazuhito Kawai, New York-based Tomokazu Matsuyama, Nir Hod, Stephanie Hier, Esmaa Mohamoud, and Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist Amadour.
Amadour’s featured paintings reflect a vibrant fusion of Latin American art traditions with contemporary sensibilities. Drawing from their Mexican and Colombian heritage, the artist weaves geometric abstraction with cinematic emotion, inspired by the sunlit landscapes of Southern California and the layered architecture of Los Angeles and New York. Through bold color fields, complex patterns, and lyrical composition, Amadour’s work evokes both deeply personal histories and shared emotional terrain.
Presented alongside a diverse roster of visionary artists, this exhibition underscores KOTARO NUKAGA’s commitment to fostering radical perspectives across cultures and disciplines. The booth offers a compelling view of global contemporary art that is at once rooted, experimental, and forward-thinking.
On view August 29 through September 22, 2024.
[Press release and fair details]
KOTARO NUKAGA at the Armory Show New York 2024
July 28, 2024 – Gen De Art Magazine: “Intersection of Material and Language: Group Exhibition by Five Artists at KOTARO NUKAGA Gallery”
Gen De Art magazine featured Materiality and Language: Explorations in Form and Meaning, on view at KOTARO NUKAGA Gallery in Tokyo from June 8 to July 31, 2024. Curated by Museo Jumex art advisor Esthella Provas, the exhibition brought together five international artists: Stefan Brüggemann, Jose Dávila, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho, and Amadour, each exploring how language and material intersect to create new modes of meaning in contemporary art.
The exhibition at KOTARO NUKAGA’s Roppongi space showcases practices that span installation, sculpture, and hard-edge painting. Within this dialogue, Amadour’s work distinguished itself for its luminous intimacy: abstractions on linen that integrate 24-karat gold leaf, layered acrylic mediums, and graphite notations reminiscent of musical scores. Drawing from the landscapes of California and Nevada, these works merge geometric form, light, and sound into narratives that are at once visual and emotional.
Positioned alongside Brüggemann’s conceptual gold text pieces and Dávila’s precarious sculptural balances, Amadour introduced a deeply personal, cinematic poetics into the exhibition. Their paintings evoke a language of silence and resonance, using minimal means to articulate stories of diaspora, queer desire, and the mythology of the American West.
Works by Amadour at KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo
June 8 – July 31, 2024 – AMADOUR Exhibits in Materiality and Language: Explorations in Form and Meaning Curated by Esthella Provas at KOTARO NUKAGA
The exhibition themed around materiality and language which features five international artists, curated by Esthella Provas, who is considered one of the world’ s most influential art advisors and known for her crucial role in establishing the Museo Jumex in Mexico City.
In contemporary art, materiality emerges as a pivotal conduit for the aesthetic experience, transcending mere physicality to engage with temporal and situational contexts. This exhibition that invites viewers to delve into the multifaceted relationship between art and its material essence. Each artist challenges traditional boundaries, creating dialogues that span the visual, textual, and spatial dimensions. Through a curated selection of works by Stefan Brüggemann, Jose Dávila, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho, and Amadour, we explore how materiality is not just about substance but time, perception, and the human experience.
Works by Amadour, Stefan Brüggemann, and Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho at KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo
July 21, 2023 – Cultbytes: "Amadour’s Western Movie Dream Can Be Your Fantasy Too" by Shea Seery
This feature by writer Shea Seery explores Amadour’s debut music release, Western Movie Dream, highlighting its cinematic storytelling, romantic nostalgia, and multidisciplinary connection to their visual art practice. The article delves into Amadour’s ability to bridge music and fine art, creating a compelling and immersive world for listeners.
Amadour in Los Feliz, California, 2023. Photography by Justin Reissman.
March 15, 2023 – Artillery Magazine: "GALLERY ROUNDS: AMADOUR" by Shana Nys Dambrot
This feature by Los Angeles art critic Shana Nys Dambrot explores Amadour’s solo exhibition and debut music release, Western Movie Dream, highlighting their cinematic storytelling, romantic nostalgia, and multidisciplinary connection to their visual art practice. The article delves into how Amadour bridges music and fine art, creating a compelling and immersive world for listeners and viewers alike. Amadour showcased their distinctive approach to geometric abstraction and performance through their solo show, further solidifying their place as a boundary-pushing contemporary artist.
Amadour, “Looking Out from this Unmade Bed,” 2023.