Leonardo Drew

PRESS RELEASE

Leonardo Drew

25 October – 22 November 2019

Artist reception: Wednesday, 6 November, 5 to 7 pm

Anthony Meier Fine Arts is pleased to present the third exhibition of new work by Brooklyn-based artist Leonardo Drew.

In a departure from his expressive wood sculptures, Drew presents a body of work made entirely of cotton. A nod to his monumental sculptures of the early 1990s, the four works that comprise the exhibition exemplify his lasting commitment to the grid-like form while showcasing his adeptness in a varying range of scales.

In a not-so-subtle reference, Drew has returned to cotton – historically the product of America’s slavery past – at a time when our nation is once again negotiating the implications and reality of racism past and present.

Leonardo Drew was born in 1961 in Tallahassee, Florida. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His works have been shown internationally and are held in numerous public collections including the deYoung Museum, San Francisco; San Francisco International Airport; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles;  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; and Tate, London.

Drew’s work will be the subject of an exhibition and outdoor installation at the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2020. Recent solo museum exhibitions include Madison Square Park, New York; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2013); the Columbus College of Art & Design (2013); 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, NC and the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. Drew has exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Miami Art Museum and the St. Louis Art Museum.  A mid-career survey exhibition, Existed: Leonardo Drew, debuted at the Blaffer Gallery, Art Museum of the University of Houston in 2009 and continued to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, NC, and the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA.