Leonardo Drew, known for creating reflective abstract sculptural works that play upon the dystopic tension between order and chaos, will give the sixth Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed Lecture. 

Drew’s natural talent and passion for art was recognized at an early age, first exhibiting his work at the age of 13. He went on to attend the Parsons School of Design and received his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and art in 1985. His works have been shown nationally and internationally and are included in numerous public and private collections. Public institutions include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Guggenheim, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; and Tate, London, among others as well as  collaborating with Merce Cunningham on the production of “ Ground Level Overlay.” The New York Times art critic Roberta Smith describes his large reliefs as “ pocked, splintered, seemingly burned here, bristling there, unexpectedly delicate elsewhere. An endless catastrophe seen from above. The energies intimated in these works are beyond human control, bigger than all of us”.  He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Watch Leonard Drew interview on CBS News with Anthony Mason.

Read more about Drew and the lecture series.

This event is supported by the Department of Art and Art History, the office of the Dean of the College of Letters and Science and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. 

The Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed Lecture honors the Thiebauds’ long commitment to educating the eye and hand along with the mind. The endowment will complement the Art Studio Program’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series, a core component of the Art Studio MFA Program, increasing its ability to invite distinguished artists, critics and curators to the UC Davis campus.