Kuumba Artist Feature: Leonardo Drew
Harbourfront Centre’s Kuumba festival is spotlighting a different Black artist each day of February. Today we’re sharing the story of Leonardo Drew.
Life, decay and dystopia. These are some of the themes explored by Leonardo Drew, whose sculptural works use raw materials — wood, scrap metal, cotton and so on — to create emotional gravitas. Each sculpture of his strikes a balance between chaos and order, exploding with perfectly aligned wreckage, harkening to North America’s industrial past, and alluding also to its history of slavery. The effect he creates feels simultaneously intimate and monumental. The size of his work can dwarf the viewer, but, unlike many other sculptures, Drew often invites audiences to touch his work, to feel the materiality of it, and, in doing so, he erases the traditional barrier between audience and art. “That has always been an aspect of my work; it’s not just a gravitational pull that draws you in, it’s the materiality,” says Drew.
Leonardo was always an artist. Precocious and talented, he started exhibiting his work when he was around 13 years old. Things were too easy for him, and so he used his talent as a crutch, preventing him from challenging himself. As he got a bit older, he was approached by DC and Marvel Comics, who wanted him to work for them as an illustrator. He decided against it. It was the 1980s and he saw the writing on the wall. Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism had set the stage for different kinds of art, more expressive and less preoccupied with realism. When, in 1980, Picasso was exhibited in The Met in New York, further solidifying the dominance of abstract work, Leonardo knew that’s where he needed to make his home. Giving up the easy money of comic book illustration, he went off to school, a choice that was particularly courageous given that he was living in New York’s projects.
He wanted to see beneath the petrified face, to develop a rule book to guide him towards the creation of weighty, substantial work. When he stripped down his work to its abstract elements, he found that he could eventually pull away from his art and, feeling spiritually mature, bring in the old elements he’d discarded. He reintroduced colour into his work, which continued to evolve as he refused to narrowly specialize in one style. When his work became known for using cotton and rust, he decided to try new things. People would ask him if he still made art in his old style and he’d say no. Eventually he came to realize that, as much as he’d moved on from them, they continued to inform his work. They refused to be left in the past.
“In order to have a sharper arc to my trajectory, I needed to let things go. I did that, and guess what? The work still had emotional weight, because once you find your voice that’s just what it’s going to be,” says Leonardo. He adds, “You’re still getting results, but you’re not necessarily taking the methods along with you. If you give me a challenge, I will chase after that bone.”
Leonardo Drew is an acclaimed sculptural artist based out of New York City. His work has been shown in institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Guggenheim. His work is exhibiting at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in the early part of 2021. You can follow his work on his Instagram (@leonardodrewstudio) and website (leonardodrew.com).
