Mnemonic (Optimism stretches and yawns, looks east, with one hand it shields its eyes from the early morning sun, and silently greets its neighbor by raising the other), 2023

Sculptor Chris Bradley continues to explore the suspension of disbelief in his handmade closely rendered objects and unexpected tableaus. This latest work, made on the occasion of the 2023 Chicago Architectural Biennial and the largest version in a decade- long series, connects hundreds of store-bought pretzel rods with wads of chewed gum. Painted cast bronze stands in for the salty snack, welded together and masked by epoxy that articulates each sticky joint. Aspects of the everyday and reflections of the commonplace fuel an output that tests conventional understandings of building. The careful lattice celebrates the nature of impulse: an animal need for impromptu architecture for immediate purpose, or put another way, a scaffolding for an imaginary home. Representations of readily available materials combine in a monument to curiosity and play, a constellation of impossibility fully transformed.

Courtesy of the artist and Ackerman Clarke (Chicago)