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.

His long-running Split of Life series encompassed an extensive range of enormous paintings depicting scenes of human brutality and suffering.

[1][4] In 1971, Kanso held his first one-man show at the 76th Street Gallery exhibiting 80 paintings and drawings in pastel, oil, and watercolor, with subjects including tropical landscapes, figures, and nude fantasies.

[6][7][8] Although the exhibitions drew attention and reviews, the gallery went out of business in 1974, and many of Kanso's works from the period were placed in storage and eventually sold off or destroyed.

[citation needed] Kanso displayed his works by covering the entire walls of the exhibition space with his paintings, which he called "the moving murals.

[3] 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.

"The victims," an art critic writes, "are the newborn torn out of wombs or clinging to mothers fleeing natural catastrophes or political disasters.

"[13] It is noted by some critics that motherhood is important with Kanso's women; you see mothers at the moment of birth and in death holding children in their arms.

[14] The canvases reveal a world permeated by a chain of chaos and violence in a hellish environment from which people are desperately trying to escape in order to survive.

[16] The emotionally steering images draw the interest and involvement of the public in witnessing the violent events in scenes filled with pathos and tensions that reach extreme intensity.

[12] "The intensity of the portrayed scenes heightens the atmosphere of fear and oppression", one critic remarks, "and awakens us or at least gives our dream an authentic vision of the final disaster.

[16] "His mural paintings," a critic observed, "stand as a tribunal in interpreting and transmitting the voices that burst out of the canvases in a massive force, and plunge into an apocalyptic storm.

Using lurid oranges, yellows and reds, Kanso fills every inch of canvas with visions of violence and human suffering that rival medieval descriptions of Hell.

[24] It is noted by some critics that "Kanso's highly expressive personal style evokes experiences and visions that reveal the inner essence of a reality lying beyond its external aspects".

In the opinion of some art critics "Kanso strong colors and powerful brushstrokes blend with the subject matter: world chaos.

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.

"[25] A critic viewed the works linkage at an exhibition in Atlanta as "a net, a polyvalence of economic, cultural, political, and sexual discourse.

"[11] 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.

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".