Collage, for Khoury, although he only worked in this medium as a young student, informs much of the body of his work. Overlapping geometrical planes and transparencies which epitomize his sprayed paintings from 1974 to the early 1980s, and the sudden twists and turns of curvilinear and geometrical forms within a shallow space are typical of his work through the 1980s. Here, surface movement is attained through crisp edges and subtle variations of line which become reminiscent of cut paper appearing to be in the process of shifting. The principles of Dada and Surrealism which are also integral to abstract expressionistic processes are equally prevalent in Khoury s work. An aleatory element of Dada and the subconscious nature of surrealism are apparent through his spontaneous collage-like configurations, as well as alternating mechanistic and biomorphic forms.
Art based on intuition has more to offer than art based on theory and rationalization.
The choices I make have to make sense to myself and the viewer, but the creative act must arrive with minimum self-consciousness. I find abstraction more exciting since it has no obligation to external references, but rather dwells on the theme of variations that lie within the use of line, color, texture and space. Throughout his career, an abiding interest in the human figure as well as abstraction occupied his attention. The sensitivity of contour line, carefully defining both the figure and the space around it, is also typical of his abstraction in painting. If we examine his hard-edged sprayed paintings from 1974 to the early 1980s, often exemplified by geometric shapes and relatively generous expanses of space, an ambiguity of negative and positive space, i.e., empty space vs. solid form, is apparent.