Installartion view. Courtesy of Andrew Rafacz Gallery.

Untitled, 2014.
watercolor, gouache, flyspeck and acrylic on canvas. 48 in x 72 in
Courtesy of Andrew Rafacz Gallery.

Currently on view at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago is “Master Plan” a solo exhibition by John Knuth featuring a body of new paintings. For Knuth, the most basic level of alchemy can be transcendent. Whether he is working with sugar, smoke or insects, the common and fleeting are repurposed and given new meaning. Much of his project is centered on the natural world and its potential in the process of art-making. To create the paintings in “Master Plan,” John Knuth feeds watercolor paint to hundreds of thousands of common houseflies. The flies regurgitate the paint on the canvas. As they eat, they digest externally. Every time they land on a surface of something there is a chance they will deposit what they just ate on that surface. That mark is called a flyspeck.

“Master Plan” is on view through May 10, 2014.
For more information visit Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago.