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Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Leonardo Drew

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Number 345, 2014.

 

 

 

 

Leonardo Drew

27 June – 1 August 2014

 

Anthony Meyer Fine Arts

1969 California Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

 

DrewNumber11S5Number 1155, 2014.

Rooted in historical evidence, Leonardo Drew’s abstract sculptural compositions are emotionally charged reflections on the cyclical nature of existence. From the eroded fibers of human industry and the tide of urban development to the awareness of ourselves as part of the fabric of a larger universe and a connection to all things, Drew exhumes the visions of the past in a mirror of organic reality that reveals the resonance of life – the nature of nature.

Drew_Number_29S_20131Number 295, 2013.

In the current exhibition, gallery visitors are confronted by a large-scale site-specific installation that snakes its way from the entrance through the main gallery space before finally culminating in the back gallery. To complete the piece, Drew spent nearly an entire month working on site. The result is an enveloping sculptural installation that engages in the physical and visceral experience of art spectatorship.

Drew_Number_30S_20141Number 305, 2014.

Drew has been making artwork since childhood, first exhibiting his work at the age of 13. He went on to attend the Parsons School of Design and received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and art in 1985. Since then his work has been shown in solo exhibitions at notable institutions such as Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (1995); The Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC (2000); the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, Ireland (2001); and Palazzo Delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea in Siena, Italy (2006). Drew’s mid-career survey exhibition, Existed: Leonardo Drew, debuted in 2009 at the Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston and traveled to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, NC and the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA.

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Drew has also collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and has participated in artist residencies at ArtPace, San Antonio and The Studio Museum of Harlem in New York, among others. He was awarded the 2011 Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.