Leonardo Drew

Number 279, 2020

Drew’s Shields series invokes the symbolism of protection and ancestral memory through the form of the shield—a recurring motif across African and diasporic visual traditions. These large, rounded or angular wall-based sculptures are constructed from oxidized and distressed materials, often encasing intricate patterns and textural accumulations within a seemingly defensive perimeter. With surfaces that appear both ceremonial and battle-worn, these works resonate with ideas of resilience, identity, and cultural inheritance, functioning as totems of both individual and collective endurance.