Kal Mansur | group of one
Solo Exhibition at Lustre Contemporary
November 6–28, 2026
Opening reception: Thursday, November 5, 6–9 pm | RSVP
Artist reception: Saturday, November 7, 2–5 pm
Lustre Contemporary presents group of one, Kal Mansur’s first solo exhibition in two years. The exhibition brings together distinct bodies of painting and sculpture developed concurrently in his Toronto studio. Working across acrylic, resin, plexiglass, cord, and rope, Mansur carries ideas from one medium into another. Compositions are tested and revised, with discoveries in one series finding their way into the next.
Across these works, angles and proportions recall the structures of everyday urban life. Abstracted from buildings and other constructed forms, they retain a familiarity even when their sources are difficult to place. Mansur’s objects can appear foreign and recognizable at once, as though they belong to a future that already bears traces of our past.
This tension extends to the experience of looking. His acrylic sculptures can initially register as flat compositions, their depth becoming apparent as the viewer moves alongside them. Colour appears within the work, becoming visible from certain angles and disappearing from others. Translucent materials reveal portions of a construction while obscuring others. In the paintings, texture and directional marks alter how surfaces catch the light. Cord and rope give line a physical presence, establishing angles and intervals in actual space.
Mansur’s use of industrial materials has affinities with Donald Judd’s minimalism, while his treatment of light and colour connects with the perceptual concerns of Light and Space and the expressive colour of Abstract Expressionism. These inheritances meet a more personal concern with visibility. Informed by the immigrant experience, his works return to conditions of being veiled, obscured, or only partly revealed. Familiar forms offer points of recognition, while aspects of the work remain elusive. What can be seen depends on the position from which it is approached.
The title group of one makes a quiet reference to the Group of Seven. Here, the differences among the works emerge from one artist’s sustained engagement with an evolving set of ideas. Angles, proportions, and ways of concealing and revealing recur across the exhibition, giving its varied forms a shared identity.
About Kal Mansur
Kal Mansur creates abstract works that explore colour, light, and perception. Working with translucent and reflective materials including plexiglass, resin, and acrylic, he builds layered compositions that shift with changing light and the movement of the viewer. Colours deepen and recede, surfaces appear to open and close, and works that initially seem precise and geometric reveal a more atmospheric quality over time. His work moves between painting and sculpture, with available light often functioning as an active part of the composition.
Mansur’s work has been exhibited in Toronto, New York, London, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and the Netherlands, and was featured at the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. He has completed commissions for Tiffany & Co., Le Méridien New York, Hines Tridel Aqualuna, Conrad Los Angeles, Sammarco Toronto, Bonjour Capital, and Fairmont Hotels. His work is held in corporate and institutional collections including Global Affairs Canada, TD Bank, George Brown College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Alliance Capital, and Senvest Corporation. He lives and works in Toronto.
Lustre Contemporary’s new 3,000-square-foot gallery at 150 Sterling Road presents a focused program of emerging and mid-career artists, with an emphasis on contemporary Canadian painting, mixed media practices, and photography. Through exhibitions in Toronto and active participation in international art fairs, Lustre supports the growth and visibility of its artists within Canada and internationally.
