Staff Picks: Leonardo Drew, Number 74, 1998
Leonardo Drew, Number 74, 1998. Fabric and metal with rust on wood, 120 × 240 × 6 in. Gift of Jennifer McSweeney, New York 2005.14 © Leonardo Drew Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Photo: Sebastian Bach
Leonardo Drew, Number 74, 1998. Fabric and metal with rust on wood, 120 × 240 × 6 in. Gift of Jennifer McSweeney, New York 2005.14 © Leonardo Drew Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Photo: Sebastian Bach
I was five when I moved from the Philippines to the sprawling suburbs of Southern California. Leonardo Drew’s Number 74 reminds me of the geographical and psychological harmony and tension of growing up in that place and time.
On the surface, there was something comforting about the controlled symmetry of endless, measured blocks in all directions. At the same time, I could always sense a latent wildness encroaching along the edges—something organic and magical and free, growing wherever it could gain purchase.