#038 John Knuth (b.1978) Black Lustre.

JOHN KNUTH ( US, 1978) 2016
Black Lustre

Acrylic/Flyspeck on canvas
51 x 40.6 cm / 20 x 16 in

This item is located in Copenhagen.
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John Knuth is born 1978 in US, currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He received an MFA from University of Southern California and a BFA from the University of Minnesota. John Knuth’s multifaceted work explores themes of transcendence through material manipulation. Through his alchemical process, he transforms seemingly mundane materials into extraordinary objects. His investigative process bridges the disciplines of aesthetics and chemistry to reveal new avenues of perception.

Over 250,000 common house flies contributed to the completion of this body of paintings, living out their life cycle inside canvas-walled enclosures at the artist’s Los Angeles studio. Knuth feeds the flies a mixture of sugar, water, and colored pigments that is drunk and regurgitated millions of times over the course of six weeks. The resulting paintings are a record of this process, resulting in dense layers of chromatic fields sweeping across a surface comprised of countless tiny flyspeck. Knuth is drawn to the tensions between the controlled environment of his studio and the inherently non-social insects’ unpredictable mark-making; a process that he feels mirrors contemporary society.