Leonardo Drew

The Weatherspoon Art Museum is currently exhibiting the work of Leonardo Drew.  Walking through the gallery, I made a list of adjectives that came to mind as I viewed his work: 

industrial
rust
found objects
repetition
textile
earth tones/natural tones
geometric
layering
molds
mundane objects
number
texture
drape
aged

      Of the works presented in the Weatherspoon, Number 59 (1997), was my favorite.  I couldn't find an image of it so I'll do my best to describe it.  From far away, or from across the gallery, 59 looks like a huge black square.  However, when you get up to it you realize it's a series of vertically rectangular little black wooden frames.  The frames are held together by black screws, some with 2, some with 3, some with 4 screws.  Inside each frame is glass, most being fractured.  Black paint covers most of the glass as well, though a very soft cream color pokes through here and there, revealing the spider web of broken glass.  There is a section in the bottom third of the piece, 3 frames high and 28 frames wide, that are all black, no cream showing or broken glass poking through.  It was not noticable right away to me, though the realization came later after I had studied the piece for awhile.

      Obsessed with number and pattern, I counted the number of frames:  20 frames tall and 28 frames wide.  Typically I am not attracted to darkly colored pieces.  I think my fascination with number, pattern, and repetition is the reason I was initially drawn to 59.  I can't imagine it being any color but black.  It definitely wouldn't have the same imposing effect.  It's almost overwhelming to look at, with all the different frames, all the different breaks in the glass.  It's like each little frame is an individual composition in itself.  The black paint is what ties it all together though; the black paint is the unifying factor.