Episode #210: In this episode from the ART21 "Exclusive" series, Leonardo Drew discusses the importance of travel in relationship to his artwork. "If you allow your antennas to reach out," he tells a group of students at Vigo Gallery in London, "you'll find what it is you need for this part of your journey." Deeply devoted to his studio practice, Drew was initially reluctant to leave his home base in New York for an extended period of time. But back-to-back trips to Peru, Cuba, Spain, and Switzerland led him to a realization: "I could spend that much time out of the studio and not miss the studio because life was going on and art was going on within me," he explains. "The art is fed by experiences."

Leonardo Drew's art career began during his youth in the inner city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Memories of his childhood surroundings, such as a landfill adjacent to his home, resurface in the intricate grids and configurations of his sculptures, which are composed of materials that he transforms through processes of decay, oxidization, and exposure to weather. Never content with work that comes easily, Drew reaches beyond his comfort zone, charting a course of experimentation and letting the work find its own way.

Learn more about the artist at:
http://www.art21.org/artists/leonardo-drew

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producers: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interviewers: Nick Ravich & Susan Sollins. Camera: John Marton, Michael Miles, Joel Shapiro, and Andrew David Watson. Sound: Tom Bergin & Andy Paddoa. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Leonardo Drew, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., and Vigo Gallery. Archival Images Courtesy: Leonardo Drew. Special Thanks: Melissa Diaz. Theme Music: Peter Foley.

ART21 "Exclusive" is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; 21c Museum Hotel, and by individual contributors.