Art of the Brick
LEGO: TOURING EXHIBIT MESMERISES WITH ITS CREATIVITY
Using only Lego, artist Nathan Sawaya turned the toy chest into an art treasure trove.
It feels odd to use nuanced and Lego in the same sentence, but Art of the Brick, an art exhibit comprising solely sculptures made from of Lego bricks, is just that. Master builder Nathan Sawaya has, since 2004, managed to build a career as a sculptor and artist, thanks to his life-long obsession with Lego. While some people run, or visit the gym to work out life’s stresses, Sawaya has always turned to the colourful building bricks that, with Barbie, are the cornerstone of the world’s toy industry.
This year is a highlight for the creative builder – he was commissioned to build Lego Oscar statues that had celebs such as Oprah and Emma Stone go bonkers.
The New York native and certified Lego professional says each statuette took about 500 bricks, which were glued together for stability. He was approached by the creators of The Lego Movie to create the Oscars, to be used while the film’s song, Everything is Awesome, was performed during this year’s ceremony.
If that is not enough to explain his appeal, consider that Lady Gaga used one of his famous pieces, Yellow, in her music video for G.U.Y and that Bill Clinton owns a Sawaya piece.
These creations will have you scavenge through boxes of childhood memories to find those old indestructible Lego bricks in an attempt to be an artist yourself.
This appeal of Art of the Brick, which is travelling the world and has set up shop in Rosebank, Johannesburg, until August 2.
Art of the Brick has already attracted millions of visitors worldwide in New York, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Shanghai and Singapore.
Each show features countless bricks Sawaya transforms into whimsical sculptures.
For more information on the exhibition visit
But the exhibition is not centred around Sawaya’s own work. He recreates both flat and 3D models of other famous art. Pieces such as American Gothic, Starry Night and The Scream get the Lego treatment.
What is striking is he never resorts to pure recreation. In fact, you experience the passion of pieces by painters such as Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci, thanks to Sawaya’s interpretation of them.
The exhibition also changes. Sawaya built a stunning totem pole-like sculpture especially for the exhibition’s South African turn, which features the “big five”.