By Biennale of Sydney
23rd Biennale of Sydney: rīvus
Flotilla (2022)Biennale of Sydney
About the participant
Leeroy New
Born 1986 in General Santos City, Philippines
Lives in Quezon City, Philippines
Leeroy New is a Manila-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice overlaps and intersects with various creative industries: fashion, filmmaking, theatre, public installations, product design, and performance.
His work manifests in large-scale spatial constructions and ‘otherworldly’ bodies that make use of available collected materials and discards.
Calling attention to social issues through his art, Leeroy New prefers to present his work in public space, away from the spatial limitations and Eurocentric history of art galleries.
Leeroy New Interview (2022) by Motel Picture CompanyBiennale of Sydney
Flotilla (2022)Biennale of Sydney
Flotilla, 2022
Filipino artist Leeroy New presents a flotilla of boats made from recycled plastic. Floating above viewers, they speak to the nature of the Philippines as a country made up of many islands, in which water has a central place in everyday life.
Flotilla (2022) by Leeroy NewBiennale of Sydney
These fantastical forms could refer to the main type of transportation employed by people throughout the region for thousands of years, or they could reference Spanish arrival and colonisation from across the seas in the sixteenth century.
Flotilla (2022) by Leeroy NewBiennale of Sydney
In recent history, the waters and oceans around the Philippines provided the backdrop for conflicts during the Second World War.
Flotilla (2022) by Leeroy NewBiennale of Sydney
As such, these boats speak to the contested nature of our oceans, waterways and the political nature of water in our lives, while for New, plastic as a material is symbolic of Filipino adaptability to change.
Tap to explore
Navigate through The Cutaway at Barangaroo and explore Leeroy New's Flotilla, 2022.
Balete (2022) by Leeroy NewBiennale of Sydney
Balete, 2022
For rīvus, the artist also created a site-specific sculpture that wrapped around the outside of the Arts + Cultural Exchange (ACE) building in Parramatta. The complex form of the piece is inspired by the organic root structure of the Balete tree of Southeast Asia.
