2024
New Monuments | Chicago marks Brendan Fernandes’ first public intervention, which is envisioned as the first in a series of interventions that engage monuments in and outside of the United States.
Installed when Fernandes was a Black Cube Artist Fellow and in collaboration with AIM Architecture, the structure, constructed of scaffolding, surrounds Grant Park’s General John Alexander Logan Monument and includes an interactive community prompt.
The structure symbolically marks the statue as "in transition," revisiting the complex history of its subject, General Logan—a nineteenth-century figure who initially worked to prohibit Black people from settling in Illinois but later advocated for the abolishment of slavery and supported African American rights.
Fernandes activated this temporary installation with a choreographed, durational performance.
Image credit: Brendan Fernandes, New Monuments | Chicago, 2024. General John Alexander Logan Monument, Grant Park, Chicago, IL. Presented by Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum in association with the Chicago Park District, as part of EXPO CHICAGO’s IN/SITU Outside program. Architectural Intervention by AIM Architecture. Dancers include Katlin Michael Bourgeois, Kara Hunsinger, Brian Martinez, Michelle Reid, Ashley Rivette, and Lieana Sherry. Lighting: Nix Campbell. Sound: Alex Inglizian. Costumes: Heather Lake. Courtesy the artist and Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum. Photo: Matthew Reeves Photography.