American artist and former lawyer
Nathan Sawaya presented the Italian debut of his exhibition The
Art of the Brick, a show made up entirely of large dimension
Lego-block sculptures, at Rome's SET - Spazio Eventi Tirso
gallery on Wednesday.
Sawaya said that when he was a lawyer, he used art to
unwind at the end of the work day.
"I painted, drew, used traditional methods. Then I started
to experiment with Legos, the toys from my childhood," Sawaya
told ANSA during the presentation of his show.
Sawaya started a web page for his Lego sculptures, and
shortly thereafter received his first orders on commission.
"I believe that my works capture the public because Legos
are familiar toys. So I propose art that's democratic and
accessible to everyone, in which everyone can find his own
approach".
Despite the art's playfulness, it requires an almost
maniacal precision in order to create movement in each
sculpture.
Sawaya has more than four million Lego blocks in his New
York and Los Angeles studios, and each sculpture takes on
average no less than three weeks to complete.
The exhibition includes more than 80 works, among which
figure some surprising recreations of classical masterpieces,
such as the Venus de Milo and the Parthenon, which took 30,201
Legos to build, as well as the Mona Lisa and The Kiss by Klimt.
"I wanted to reproduce these works to bring children closer
to art history, thanks to a language that's appealing for the
whole family," Sawaya said.
CNN called The Art of the Brick "one of the world's ten
must-see exhibitions", and the show has travelled to Australia,
Taiwan, Singapore and China.
Fabio Di Gioia, the show's curator in Italy, said The Art
of the Brick was an exhibition "we couldn't deprive ourselves
of".
"Legos belong to our childhood and Sawaya speaks to our
deepest self," Di Gioia said.
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