“Existed: Leonardo Drew”

You certainly can’t accuse artist Leonardo Drew of neglecting his recycling responsibilities — his work frequently contains animal carcasses and hides, shoes, discarded objects and a whole lot of rust. At “Existed: Leonardo Drew,”now open at the Blaffer Gallery, you can see one of the Brooklyn-based artist’s most recent trademark installations, made from found objects and other detritus, as well as 14 other major sculptures, each revealing Drew’s particular obsession with the nature of existence and the life cycles of objects. Some of his earlier work is downright apocalyptic, eerily similar to images of post-Katrina destruction and third-world slums, but earlier this decade Drew began working on lighter projects, both literally and figuratively, using paper replicas of the objects he found. Check out his evolution — and that of everything he uses, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Through August 1. University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun. For information, call 713-743-9521 or visit www.blaffergallery.org. Free.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: May 28. Continues through Aug. 15, 2009