
Despite its notoriety as a creative element, LEGO is one of the last things that you’d expect a critically acclaimed global touring exhibition to involve. But now, thanks to lawyer turned award-winning artist, Nathan Sawaya, guests can enjoy some of the world’s most famous works of art reproduced using thousands of those world-famous tiny bricks.
Sawaya’s globe-trotting exhibition ‘The Art of the Brick‘, currently on show at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, features over 100 sculptures made out of nothing but LEGO pieces.
As well as re-imagined versions of famous masterpieces like Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Grant Wood’s American Gothic, there are large-scale sculptures of a 20-foot-long Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, a life-sized sculpture of a man pulling his chest apart, and many more meticulously constructed creations.
*The exhibition opened in February 2022 and is now in its last week on show at the Museum of Science & Industry before it wraps up on Monday, January 16th!
Previously a corporate lawyer in New York City, Nathan Sawaya is reportedly the first artist to ever take LEGO into the art world. He’s consequently since published two best-selling books titled The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO and Brilliant Brick Builds: Amazing Creations in LEGO®. This unique exhibition is the first to focus “exclusively on the use of LEGO® bricks as an art medium”.
Breaking attendance records around the globe, ‘The Art of the Brick’ is now a critically-acclaimed exhibition with some sublime sculptures dating as far back as 2002. Collectively the sculptures have been made from over 1 million LEGO bricks.
In addition to the array of painstakingly crafted sculptures, there is an innovative, multimedia collection of LEGO brick-infused photography produced alongside award-winning photographer Dean West.
After opening in February of 2022, The Art of the Brick was extended through this weekend due to popular demand.
Please note that the exhibit is not included in regular museum admission and guests must purchase a separate, timed-entry ticket.
“These works are very personal to me since they reflect my growth as an artist as I strove to discover my creative identity,” said Sawaya.
“The museum exhibition is accessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating sophisticated and complex concepts. Everyone can relate to the medium since it is a toy that many children have at home. But my goal with this exhibition when it first debuted in 2007 was to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before.”
More information can be found via www.msichicago.org.
[Featured image from the Museum of Science and Industry]