Leonardo Drew

American, b. 1961

BiographyLeonardo Drew is an African American contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He creates sculptures from found natural objects and through processes of oxidation, burning, and decay, Drew transforms these objects into massive sculptures that critique social injustices and the cycle of growth and decay in nature. Although often mistaken for accumulations of found objects, his sculptures are instead made of "brand new stuff"—materials such as wood, rusted iron, cotton, paper, mud—that he intentionally subjects to processes of weathering, burning, oxidization, and decay. Whether jutting from a wall or traversing rooms as freestanding installations, his pieces challenge the architecture of the space in which they’re shown.

He was born in Tallahassee, Florida, but was raised in the projects of Bridgeport, Connecticut. During his early childhood, Drew often played at a dump by his childhood home. It is here that Drew began to build sculptures from found objects. Drew created works from salvaged trash, and repurposed them to give them a new meaning. He often refers to the dump as “God’s Mouth” because it was a place of death and rebirth.

Leonardo began his artistic career at a very young age, exhibiting his work publicly for the first time at the age of 13. His initial work in drawing drew the attention of talent scouts from DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Heavy Metal magazine. He went on to attend Parsons School of Design in New York, and received his BFA from Cooper Union in 1985.

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