The metal sculptures of Bill Brady give the impression of being three-dimensional manifestations of magical symbols or scientific diagrams from another planet, as interpreted by someone with superb taste.
The 83-year-old artist, who lives in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, creates works of exquisite refinement and with a sophisticated sense of design—and an imaginative freedom that reveals an independent spirit at work.
Brady is profoundly dyslexic, and was ordered by educational authorities to give up schooling after finishing ninth grade at age 17. He can neither read nor write. He learned to work with metal from his blacksmith father, and for a number of years made tin replicas of early American objects, including lanterns, cups, and candlesticks, which he sold at craft markets. In the late 1960s, he began creating distinctive works out of tin-plated steel roofing materials and welding rods.
Half a century later, in 2018, he had his first show—at Pennsylvania’s Erie Art Museum, about 50 miles from his home. His second exhibition, Bill Brady: Drawing with Metal, is on view through October 4 at the Intuit Art Museum in Chicago.
Installation view of Drawing with Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady, 2026.
