"Drawing for The Sponsor" by Patrick Fitzgerald

Entitled "Drawing for The Sponsor," this work by Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald envisions an advertisement by Southport Tool and Die, a Chicago company from the 1940s and the imaginary sponsor to his soap box car "Maquette." Drawn to seem improvisational, "as having been removed from a work space and placed immediately into a frame," the sketch enriches the car's fictional history and tells the story of a forgotten company. At the bottom of the piece is a reference to the "MULberry" phone exchange, a recurring theme in several of Fitzgerald's works and a reflection on our ever-evolving technological landscape.

"The concept of these drawings," says Fitzgerald, "was to make objects that appear salvaged from a junk shop and rescued from oblivion. The frames are imperfect and show their age, each given one last chance to serve its purpose."

Graphite on paper mounted on collaged board. Framed.