visual art

John Henry Egan at Red E

John Henry Egan’s abstract textures expertly mimic a lucky accident.

By Anne Adams April 19, 2011

Ever meditatively stare at a water-spot? In the bulging plaster and chipping paint, you might start to make out an image. Perhaps the shape itself just embosses onto your mind. (Amorphous as it may be, you’d know that water-spot anywhere.) Or maybe you muse about the cause. Who left the water on, for how long? What alloys in the paint or pipes, bled into this ring of rust? What happy accidents converged to make the shape turn out just so?

John Henry Egan’s latest works are no accident. Using a trial-and-error tested combination of materials (coffee grounds, plaster, rust) developed in part by Eric Adrian Lee, Egan creates a false—yet strangely satisfying—sense of spontaneity. Click through the slideshow, or view the real thing at the Red E Café, 1006 N Killingsworth.

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