GAL CHEWS GUM is a new bronze edition that synthesizes multiple aspects of Ruscha's iconic vision into a single form: text, signage, and shadows. The sculpture is fabricated through innovation of the lost wax method of bronze casting that dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. The bronze conjures a weathered road sign or billboard flashing the words 'GAL CHEWS SAME PIECE OF GUM SINCE 1970.' However, rather than conveying its message with eye-catching, brash graphics, the sign text is written in negative space with the letters cut out from the face of the sign in a stretched, horizontal font.

GAL CHEWS GUM speaks to several eras of Ruscha's practice in creating something uniquely and simultaneously nostalgic, droll and modern. The phrase, 'GAL CHEWS SAME PIECE OF GUM SINCE 1970' with its colloquialism harkens internal images of small-town roadside attractions or local news headlines, however, by immortalizing the phrase in bronze, the artist invites the viewer to consider it in a new way. Ruscha once said. "I'm dead serious about being nonsensical." Although this statement might initially read like an off-handed quip, it is highly representative of is practice and this new edition. His ability to stir the viewer's imagination with a suggestive or illusive choice of words allows for both a conceptual and visual experience that leaves room for interpretation and delight.