Leonardo Drew: Existed
Edited by Claudia Schmuckli. Essays by Claudia Schmuckli and Allen S. Weiss
Published by GILES in association with Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston
Publish Date — May 2009 (UK and USA)
Dimensions — 208 pages, 304 × 230 mm (9 × 12 in.), portrait
Illustrations — 110 colour and 35 b&w illustrations
Hardback price — UK£30.00 / US$59.95
ISBN — 1-904832-58-X
ISBN — 978-1-904832-58-4
Book Details (pdf) — Leonardo-Drew-AI-LR.pdf
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Press Release — Leonardo Drew: Existed
Sales Points
“Facing the difficult task of capturing works so large, so detailed, and so dependent on a close appreciation of their aggregation and texture, Existed comes through with flying colours.” “A choice reference on the artist and his work”, Katherine R. Lieber, Artscope.net
The first book to document and interpret fully Drew’s career over the last twenty years, including reproductions of 44 sculptures realized between 1988 and 2007 and 26 works on paper
Features scholarly essays that interpret Drew’s career and his place within the broader context of contemporary art, an annotated chronology, selected biography and bibliography
About the Book
Throughout his career, Leonardo Drew has been continuously engaged with the cyclical nature of existence. Made to resemble the detritus of everyday life, his formally abstract but emotionally charged compositions have a metaphorical weight that is as unique as it is symbolic. Often interpreted as a comment on the position of African-Americans in contemporary American society, his work transcends any specific historic and ethnic reference, and is deeply embedded in the theory and practice of mid-20th-century abstraction. Ranging from the intense drama of his sculptures and installations of the 1980s, to the epic sweep of his massive wall-bound tableaux in the 1990s, to the ethereal language of his paper casts of the early 2000s, his works transcend time and place. Add the poetic intimacy of his recent works on paper, and Drew’s practice can be described as a journey toward enlightenment, full of reprises and returns as well as new beginnings.
Publication accompanies an exhibition at Blaffer Gallery, the University of Houston on May 16 to August 15, 2009, travelling to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, N.C., from February 7, 2010 through May 9, 2010
