LEGO: The Art of the Brick
Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles is the latest to join the range of global spaces displaying the reputed exhibition The Art of the Brick ®.
The exhibition which is currently displaying in four locations across the world features more than 75 unique art sculptures created from more than a million LEGO® bricks by US artist Nathan Sawaya. The art pieces took 4,188 hours to build, four shipping containers for delivery from the United States, and 80 custom made art crates. The Art of the Brick® has become one of the world’s top attractive exhibitions and has had millions of visitors in New York, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Shanghai and Singapore.
The artworks on display are large-scale sculptures, mainly in the shape of human figures. Featuring in the exhibition are also a T-Rex skeleton and Sawaya’s recent interpretations of classic artworks including Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. The exhibition includes an interactive area for visitors to test out their own creativity using the LEGO® bricks.
Each piece is crafted obsessively and with utmost care to be both beautiful and playful. Sawaya’s skills in transforming an ordinary toy to the status of fine art comes from his deep devotion to scale and colour perfection, and the manner in which he conceptualizes the action of the subject matter.
“I want to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before. I also appreciate the cleanliness of the medium. The right angles. The distinct lines. As so often in life, it is a matter of perspective. Up close, the shape of the brick is distinctive. But from a distance, those right angles and distinct lines change to curves,” Sawaya said.
In the United States the exhibition will be showcased until Sunday 14 June 2015 at Oshkosh Museum of Art, Wisconsin and until Sunday 6 September 2015 at Franklin Institute Museum, Pennsylvania. In South Africa The Art of the Brick ® will be on display until Sunday 2 August 2015 at Rosebank Gallery in Johannesburg. Finally, at Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles, France the exhibition will be showcased until Sunday 30 August 2015.
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