Last week it was Mr O Senior’s birthday so as part of his celebration adventures we all visited an exhibition called The Art of the Brick, which is currently taking place at The Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch.
The exhibition is a showcase of New York-based artist, Nathan Sawaya’s work… and it’s particularly interesting because everything is made out of LEGO bricks. Sawaya is the first ever artist to sculpt exclusively in LEGO and brings an interesting juxtaposition of playful and serious to his pieces.
Sawaya has created a wide range of pieces across different themes and genres, including reproductions of famous works… like these ones of the Venus de MIlo, Edward Munch’s The Scream and Vermeer’s Girl With the Pearl Earring.
Some of his work is more whimsical, like this Tiger Giraffe:
Or this mega dinosaur, which took up a whole room and required over 50,000 bricks.
But Sawaya’s most interesting pieces capture his desire for self exploration.
I particularly liked this sculpture of a swimmer.
And this amazing red dress, which was later superimposed on a model in a photograph.
And who wouldn’t love a LEGO portrait of Jimi Hendrix?
Of course it wouldn’t be art appreciation with Abbi if I didn’t goof off just a little…
if, like me, you grew up building things with LEGO and love imaginative, new artistic mediums I would highly recommend checking out The Art of The Brick, which is open until 12 April. You can buy tickets here.
I think you will be just as satisfied as Mr O Senior was when you get to the end.
abbiosbiston 