"Case Runner" Helmet & Jacket by Patrick Fitzgerald

To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Working from found materials, Fitzgerald constructs miniature soap box cars and the branded attire of their imagined drivers. Futuristic forms imbued with history, each sculpture is an exercise in imagining the future through the lens of the past – or vice versa.

Entitled “Case Runner," this helmet & jacket set references the former Rothschild Liquor Mart in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. "I always appreciated its aesthetics," says Fitzgerald, " the look of the store, its color palette, and that beautiful sign." A fixture of Chicago avenue, the store charmed with its old-fashioned painted facade and glowing neon sign. The phrase "MOhawk 3101" painted on the jacket beneath the store slogan is a reference to a regional phone exchange, a recurring theme in several of Fitzgerald's works and a reflection on our ever-evolving technological landscape.

Oil and mixed media on cardboard, wire, and wood.