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Leonardo Drew
b. 1961

Leonardo Drew b. 1961

  • Biography
  • Selected Artworks
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • Press
  • Publications
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  • For over three decades, Leonardo Drew has become known for creating contemplative abstract sculptural works that play upon a tension...

    Installation view of Number 411, 2024, in The Collection: 1960 - Now, 2024. Phoenix Art Museum. Museum commission with funds generously provided by Men's Arts Council and the Opatrny Family Foundation. Photo: Airi Katsuta.

    For over three decades, Leonardo Drew has become known for creating contemplative abstract sculptural works that play upon a tension between order and chaos. At once monumental and intimate in scale, his work recalls post-Minimalist sculpture that alludes to America's industrial past. Drew transforms accumulations of raw materials such as wood, scrap metal, and cotton to articulate various overlapping themes with emotional gravitas: from the cyclical nature of life and decay to the erosion of time. His surfaces often approach a language of their own, embodying the labored process of writing oneself into history.

    Drew's works have been shown internationally and are included in numerous public collections including 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, D.C.; and Tate, London. His works have recently been acquired by The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Bloomington, Indiana; and New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana among others.

  • "For me, I need to go through the rigor, touch it, get involved with it, transform the material into something like this...You become the weather."
    —Leonardo Drew
  • Drew was commissioned for a new outdoor project City in the Grass for Madison Square Park in summer 2019, marking...

    Installation view of Number 360, 2023, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2023. Courtesy of the artist, Goodman Gallery, and Galerie Lelong & Co. Photo © Jonty Wilde.

    Drew was commissioned for a new outdoor project City in the Grass for Madison Square Park in summer 2019, marking the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s 38th public commission and the artist’s first major public outdoor art project. City in the Grass was presented as a solo exhibition in three museums, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut (2021); Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson (2020); and North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (2020). Other solo exhibitions include the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas (2023); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK (2023); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California (2020); University of Massachusetts Amherst (2019); 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, D.C. (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 was also commissioned for two major site-responsive works permanently installed at San Francisco International Airport, Harvey Milk Terminal 1, and at the Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, California respectively.  In 2022, Drew was elected as a National Academician by the National Academy of Design.

    Drew was born in 1961 in Tallahassee, Florida, and he grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

    Download CV
  • Number 411, 2024  Mixed media  Museum commission with funds generously provided by Men’s Arts Council and the Opatrny Family Foundation.  Installation view of The Collection: 1960 - Now, 2024. Phoenix Art Museum.  Photo: Airi Katsuta. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Leonardo Drew, Number 82S, 2021. Wood, paint, and sand. On view June 18, 2021 through January 2, 2022. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Hartford, Connecticut. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view: Leonardo Drew, Making Chaos Legible, North Carolina Museum of Art, April 4, 2020 – January 3, 2021. Photograph courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Art. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Leonardo Drew, Number 184T, 2017. Wood, paint, and mixed media, dimensions variable. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2019.4. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    City in the Grass, 2019 Installation view in Madison Square Park, New York Aluminum, sand, wood, cotton and mastic 102 x 32 feet Collection the artist, courtesy Talley Dunn Gallery, Galerie Lelong and Anthony Meier Fine Arts Photo Credit: Hunter Canning (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Installation view of Number 411, 2024, in The Collection: 1960 - Now, 2024. Phoenix Art Museum.

  • Works
    • Number 418, 2024

      Number 418, 2024

    • Number 414, 2024

      Number 414, 2024

    • Number 413, 2024

      Number 413, 2024

    • Leonardo Drew, Number 392D, 2024
      Leonardo Drew, Number 392D, 2024
    • Number 381, 2023

      Number 381, 2023

    • Number 386, 2023
      Number 386, 2023
    • Number 304, 2021
      Number 304, 2021
    • Number 286, 2020
       Number 286, 2020
  • Select Exhibitions

    • Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II, South London Gallery, UK
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II

      South London Gallery, UK 30 May - 7 September 2025 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew

      5 September - 19 October 2024 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew: Number 235T, The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew: Number 235T

      The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas 17 June 2023 - 9 June 2024 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew

      Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK 18 March - 29 October 2023 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew

      9 September - 23 October 2021 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew: Two Projects, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew: Two Projects

      Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut 4 June 2021 - 2 January 2022 Museum & Public Exhibitions
    • Leonardo Drew
      Exhibitions

      Leonardo Drew

      16 May - 2 August 2019 Galerie Lelong Exhibitions
  • News & Events

    • Galerie Lelong: Dialogues, Leonardo Drew with Alteronce Gumby
      Events

      Galerie Lelong: Dialogues

      Leonardo Drew with Alteronce Gumby 21 September 2024
    • Leonardo Drew, Number 411 (2024) at Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
      News

      Leonardo Drew

      Number 411 (2024) at Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona August 29, 2024
    • Leonardo Drew, Number 381 (2023) at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
      News

      Leonardo Drew

      Number 381 (2023) at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio May 3, 2024
  • Press

    • Financial Times, Artist Leonardo Drew’s explosive sculptures draw order from chaos
      Press

      Financial Times

      Artist Leonardo Drew’s explosive sculptures draw order from chaos June 10, 2022
    • Artforum, Critics' Picks
      Press

      Artforum

      Critics' Picks October 1, 2021
    • Art in America, Leonardo Drew on Learning from Chinese Artisans
      Press

      Art in America

      Leonardo Drew on Learning from Chinese Artisans May 30, 2019
    • The New York Times, Leonardo Drew Rides His Magic Carpet to a New Field
      Press

      The New York Times

      Leonardo Drew Rides His Magic Carpet to a New Field May 30, 2019
  • Publications

    • Leonardo Drew: Two Projects, Patricia Hickson
      Publications

      Leonardo Drew: Two Projects

      Patricia Hickson
      Author: Patricia Hickson Description: An exhibition catalog detailing the installation of two works by Leonardo Drew at the Wadsworth Atheneum; Number 81S & Number 82S. Details: Publisher: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum...
    • Leonardo Drew: Journal
      Publications

      Leonardo Drew: Journal

      Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina ISBN: 0990690938
    • Leonardo Drew, Xandra Eden, Valerie Cassel
      Publications

      Leonardo Drew

      Xandra Eden, Valerie Cassel
      Charta ISBN: 8881588412
    • Existed: Leonardo Drew, Claudia Schmuckli, Allen S. Weiss
      Publications

      Existed: Leonardo Drew

      Claudia Schmuckli, Allen S. Weiss
      D. Giles ISBN: 190483258X
  • Contact Form

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Galerie Lelong, Paris

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T +33 1 45 63 13 19

info@galerie-lelong.com

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