Galerie Lelong & Co.
Leonardo Drew , France
"Ubiquity"
Leonardo Drew, Number 402, 2024, Bois, plâtre, peinture et sable, 183 × 183 cm © Leonardo Drew. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co.
For over three decades, Leonardo Drew has been known for his abstract and meditative relief works that play on a tension between order and chaos. Both monumental and intimate, his work falls within what can be called post-minimalism, evoking the industrial past of North America. Drew transforms accumulations of raw materials such as wood, glass, plaster, and cotton to articulate, in his own way, the theme of the cyclical nature of life: decomposition, erosion, and regeneration over time. His panels are teeming with energy, with a tension between the classical structure of the grid.
For his second exhibition at Galerie Lelong & Co. in Paris, Leonardo Drew has created an installation in the form of an explosion specifically adapted to the space, as well as a group of wall works of various dimensions. Each new material offers Drew a range of possibilities for reinvention; the reuse of materials gives them new energy and renewed meaning. For the exhibition, Drew has thought about how to insert his works into a Parisian space from the late 19th century.
“The adaptability of the work is its very life,” he explains. This malleability according to the exhibition space is a challenge that he enjoys taking on.
Solo show of Leonardo Drew
From May 16 to July 13, 2024
The gallery
The gallery was established in 1945 in Paris by Aimé Maeght, and during its first thirty years, it was marked by the presentation of major artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, and Francis Bacon. Upon Maeght's death in 1981, the gallery took its current name and was directed by three equal partners, Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong, and Jean Frémon (J. Dupin passed away in 2012, the year D. Lelong handed over the presidency to J. Frémon, the current director of the galleries in Paris and New York).
From the 1980s onwards, significant artists like Pierre Alechinsky, Louise Bourgeois, Konrad Klapheck, and Jannis Kounellis, among others, joined the gallery. The Galerie Lelong in New York opened in 1985, directed since 1990 by Mary Sabbatino, expanding the program to include influential figures of the Latin American art scene such as Alfredo Jaar, Ana Mendieta, Cildo Meireles, Hélio Oiticica, and Zilia Sánchez. Today, the gallery continues its history, showcasing leading artists from the global scene such as Etel Adnan, Leonardo Drew, Barry Flanagan, Günther Förg, David Hockney, Sam Levi Jones, Nalini Malini, David Nash, Jaume Plensa, Sean Scully, Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, and Barthélémy Toguo. The gallery has developed monumental sculpture production for public spaces with artists like Jaume Plensa, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Jean Dubuffet (thanks to a privileged relationship with the Dubuffet Foundation).
More than 180 catalogs have been published since 1981, as well as the comprehensive catalog raisonné of Joan Miró's work (14 volumes), in collaboration with the artist's estate. On the ground floor of the Paris gallery, a space is dedicated to original prints; each year sees the production of new editions in close collaboration with the artists. An additional exhibition space was opened on Avenue Matignon in 2018.
The gallery participates in major international contemporary art fairs: Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Paris+ by Art Basel, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Frieze Seoul, Arco, Art Brussels, Art Antwerp, and Luxembourg Art Week.
Gallery artists
Etel Adnan, Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, James Brown, Eduardo Chillida, Nicola De Maria, Marc Desgrandchamps, Leonardo Drew, Jean Dubuffet, Simone Fattal, Barry Flanagan, Günther Förg, Ficre Ghebreyesus, Andy Goldsworthy, Sarah Grilo, Jane Hammond, David Hockney, Frank Horvat, Jean-Baptiste Huynh, Samuel Levi Jones, Konrad Klapheck, Jiri Kolàr, Jannis Kounellis, Nalini Malani, Ana Mendieta, Henri Michaux, Joan Miró, David Nash, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Jaume Plensa, Arnulf Rainer, Paula Rego, Christine Safa, Sean Scully, Kate Shepherd, Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, Antoni Tàpies, Mildred Thompson, Barthélémy Toguo, Richard Tuttle, Juan Uslé, Marion Verboom, Fabienne Verdier, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Jan Voss, Wang Yan Cheng
Galerie sélectionnée par Margaux Brugvin
