Karl Wirsum

(American, 1939-2021)

Plug Bug, 1991

colored pencil on paper

signed Karl Wirsum (lower left); titled and dated (lower right)

27 1/2 x 24 inches.

Provenance:

Donald Petkus, Park Ridge, Illinois

Sold: Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, September 14, 2015, Lot 159

Aquired from the above sale by the present owner

Lot Note:

This bright, boldly geometric Plug Bug acted as the final drawing for Wirsum’s mural of the same title. The two-dimensionality perfectly translates to its final mural format, with Wirsum’s use of whimsical segments of pure color—teals, acidic greens, and pastel violets popping from a scarlet background—to define the patterned forms. This electric use of color was appropriate for a modern logo or emblem of a lightning bug—perfect to decorate the ComEd substation building on Block 37. The mural, an attention-grabbing State Street landmark from 1992 to 2007, has since been entombed by the development of a skyscraper; however, rather than being disappointed by this obscuring of his work, Wirsum was delighted. He appreciated the idea of Plug Bug being unearthed by future generations, like archaeologists discovering a scarab-laden temple wall and wondering what they meant. This lot, the only remaining evidence of Plug Bug, for now, echoes the ruin-like symbols of a modern age that its mural will one day represent, a fitting legacy for a work by an artist whose influences included commercial sign painting and uncovered Mesoamerican artifacts.