“I am concerned with what the viewer sees and discovers when they engage with my work. My work should operate as a mirror. The viewer should be able to realize some aspect of themselves...”
Leonardo Drew
(b. Tallahassee, FL, 1961)
Leonardo Drew (b. Tallahassee, FL, 1961) is known for creating contemplative abstract sculptural works that play upon a tension between order and chaos. His work recalls Post-Minimalist sculpture and likewise seeks to imbue objects and materials with character and expressive potential, overtly revealing the hand of the artist. Although often mistaken for accumulations of found objects, his sculptures are instead made of materials such as wood, rusted iron, cotton, paper, and mud; he intentionally subjects these materials to the processes of weathering, burning, oxidation, and decay. By manipulating the materials in this way, the artist is able to articulate various overlapping themes with emotional gravitas: from the cyclical nature of life and decay to the erosion of time. Drew defines himself as an abstractionist above all. The artist refuses to assign descriptive titles or discuss narratives behind his work, preferring instead for viewers to define their own experiences without being led by anything outside of the work itself.
Recent solo museum exhibitions of the artist’s work include shows at the Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson (2020); North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (2020); de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California (2017); Palazzo Delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy (2006); and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (2000). Drew’s mid-career survey, Existed, premiered at the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston in 2009, and traveled to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Drew’s works are included in numerous public collections including that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; and Tate, London.
Drew lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
