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Drew Leshko: Amor Fati
November 7 – November 30, 2025

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Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present Amor Fati, the newest collection of documentary sculptures by Philadelphia-based artist Drew Leshko. In a blowout display of over 60 building facades, hanging signs, and rooftop superstructures, Leshko documents the ever-changing landscape of urban architecture from gentrification while memorializing the influential buildings from his neighborhood and beyond. Leshko works slowly and meticulously in hand-crafting neighborhood bars, corner stores, and music venues, primarily in paper and wood to echo the slow decay he witnesses from rising redevelopment. Instead of condemning the evolving landscape, Leshko reminds his audience to Amor Fati–love your fate–to accept change and move forward, acknowledging the good and the bad. With almost 20 years dedicated to capturing the essence of Philadelphia’s disreputable yet culturally significant sites in miniature form, Leshko’s sculptures are atypical monuments that unveil the emotional ties one can assign to weathered brick, faded signage, or rusted iron.

Amor Fati will be on view on the first floor of the Paradigm Arts Building (12 N 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106) starting November 7th until November 30, 2025, with a public opening reception on Friday, November 7th from 6PM–8PM.

Leshko has always considered his work as a type of future forecasting, as he draws attention to the long-forgotten businesses and unmaintained establishments that are destined to be knocked down to make room for newer, shinier but often soulless condos. This anticipation inspires a need to intimately document these buildings before they become empty lots, change ownership, or are remodeled into something unrecognizable.  Leshko’s own photographs are sometimes the only authentic references for storefronts and window advertisements, but his memories are equally important for informing the pieces. Leshko compares his studies to plein-air painting, capturing the entire nature of these structures through the inclusion of rust, spray-painted messages, show posters, and all the details that speak to a collective memory. For this exhibition, Leshko dives deeply inward to choose which buildings to commemorate, reflecting on the relationships he has established and the conflict he has faced, represented in the dive bars and roadside attractions that remind him of his experiences. Although the visual vernacular has not changed in his practice, the emotional weight of his sculptures has noticeably increased. Leshko shares that these hyper-detailed sculptures can now be read as an attempt at healing past turmoil, such as the inclusion of the graffiti tags of a close friend who passed away.  “There has always been some sadness involved with these pieces,” Leshko reflects, “but lately I have realized that it has always been this way, with the city in constant change. Good or bad, we must learn to take things in stride.” Just as his personal relationships can be represented in these structures, they can also be seen as a microcosm of political climates, industrial innovation, and social hubs in urban heritage architecture. To illustrate the cyclical nature of redevelopment, Leshko will also display select Philadelphia staple pieces, becoming rarer as their real-life counterparts, such as the Electric Factory and the Barbary, and the Khyber Pass Pub, which have all evolved into different iterations of what they once were. Relating to Amor Fati, Leshko accepts these changes as unstoppable and sometimes needed, while also paying tribute to the gritty places of community that have shaped him as an artist and a person.

About Drew Leshko

Drew Leshko is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based artist. By carving, cutting, and layering varieties of paper and wood, Leshko creates documentary studies of architecture from his neighborhood in an attempt to create a three-dimensional archive of buildings that are in transitional periods. The work examines gentrification and history, how historical relevance is determined, and most importantly, what is worth preserving. Working from observation and photographs, the artist painstakingly recreates building facades from his neighborhood at a 1:12 scale. The scale is familiar for some viewers as standard dollhouse spec; the treatment to the buildings is widely different. The minute detail of his work includes city detritus such as dumpsters and pallets, which are commentary of the same ideas of what is worth preserving. Highlighting quick fixes and simple solutions, Leshko’s work begs the viewer to build their own ideas of why and when these changes had been made. Accumulations of typically overlooked details and minutiae like acid rain deposits and rust become beautiful adornments.

Leshko’s work has been exhibited in London, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Delaware, Detroit, Indiana, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Houston, and Miami. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Dean Collection (NYC), the Hosner Collection (LA), West Collection (Philadelphia), and Iron State Development’s corporate collection (Hoboken), Urban Nation Museum (Berlin), and many private collections throughout the country.

About Paradigm Gallery + Studio

Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intense contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world, with a focus on Philadelphia. In 2023, Paradigm moved locations and opened its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.

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