The University Museum of Contemporary Art Presents “Leonardo Drew: Cycles”

"134D" by Leonardo Drew
"134D" by Leonardo Drew

The University Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting “Leonardo Drew: Cycles” from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. The exhibition will be on view from Friday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Dec. 8.

The exhibition includes 33 prints and three sculptures, made between 2014 and 2018.

During the past 30 years, Leonardo Drew has become best known for his installations, both sweeping in scale and intimate in detail, which transform materials such as cotton, metal, animal hides and wood — often oxidizing, burning, and decaying them — into something completely different from their original state.

“Through his use of natural materials and processes — rust, fire, decay — Leonardo Drew presents a perspective that is challenging, provocative, and inspirational all at the same time,” comments collector Jordan D. Schnitzer. “By exploring these forces that drive the natural world, we gain better understanding our of own role within it.”

The works on view in this exhibition demonstrate the artist’s similar approach to process, experimentation and materiality in the making of prints. Each work is the result of a complex exploration of printmaking processes. Through an intensive, collaborative process with master printers and papermakers at Pace Prints studio in Brooklyn and at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, Drew developed new processes and solutions to translate his three‐dimensional practice into the print medium. This exhibition focuses on his experimental prints alongside a selection of wall sculptures.

Simultaneous with this exhibition, Drew's “City in the Grass,” a large‐scale aluminum, sand, and wood relief sculpture, is on view at Madison Square Park, in New York, through Dec. 15.

Drew’s work is included in the collections of many institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC; and Tate, London.

Support for the exhibition and related educational and outreach programs has been made possible by a grant from the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.

The UMCA is open Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2 to 5 p.m.; and until 8 p.m. on first Thursdays, when UMass is in session. Admission is free.

There will be a series of events related to this exhibition throughout the fall:

  • Thursday, Sept. 19, 4 to 7:30 p.m., Reception for the artist.
  • Thursday, Sept. 19, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Panel Discussion featuring Leonardo Drew (artist); Jordan Schnitzer (collector); Ruth Lingen (Master Printer and Papermaker Emerita, Pace Editions); and Lauren Haynes (curator of contemporary art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas; former curator, Studio Museum of Harlem).
  • Wednesday, Oct. 16, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Three musicians respond to the work of Leonardo Drew — Jason Robinson (saxes, flutes), Bob Weiner (drums, percussion), and Carl Clements (saxes and flutes).
All are UMass and Amherst College faculty members.
  • Thursday, Nov. 7, 6 to 7 p.m., Exhibition walkthrough, in collaboration with Amherst Arts Night Plus, led by artists Rie Hachiyanagi, Professor of Art, Mount Holyoke College, and Amanda Maciuba, Visiting Artist in Printmaking, Mount Holyoke College. The museum will stay open until 8 p.m.
  • Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 7 through 9, 7:30 p.m., Totman Performance Lab, The department of music and dance presents “Metamorphose,” dance inspired by the work of Leonardo Drew; conceived and choreographed by Thomas Vacanti, Bronwen MacArthur, and Aston McCullough, professors of dance. For details visit umass.edu/dance.