Award-winning artist Nathan Sawaya’s The Art of the Brick comes to Great Northern
MUST-SEE exhibition (according to CNN) The Art of the Brick is coming to Manchester as part of a global tour seen by millions in the last 12 years. From Moscow and Paris to Shanghai and Sydney, the show has been to over 80 cities in 24 countries, and will be opening at The Great Northern Warehouse on Friday 22nd November until April 2020.
Sawaya’s work is obsessively and painstakingly constructed, and plays with colour, movement, light and perspective
Critically acclaimed, The Art of the Brick features 3D sculptures and oversized portraits created by the award-winning artist Nathan Sawaya using standard LEGO® bricks – a million in total. Los Angeles-based Sawaya was the first contemporary artist to use LEGO® as an art medium; transforming the plastic blocks from toy into fine art by skillfully positioning them into original pieces alongside recreations of iconic art, including the Mona Lisa. Some not yet shown in the UK will debut at the Great Northern exhibition.
Sawaya’s work is obsessively and painstakingly constructed, and plays with colour, movement, light and perspective. Creating work that is at once beautiful, poignant, captivating and in some cases even thought-provoking, the forms have been described as merging pop art and Surrealism.
Nathan Sawaya said: “My goal with this exhibition, when it first debuted in 2007, was to elevate this simple plaything to a place it had never been before. I use LEGO® bricks as my medium because I enjoy seeing people’s reactions to artwork created from something with which they are familiar. Everyone can relate to it since it is a toy that many children have at home.
“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. The museum exhibition is accessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating sophisticated and complex concepts.”
The Art of the Brick is open daily from 10am at the Great Northern Warehouse. Prices start from £9.50 for children and £14.50 for adults.
Full details and tickets available here.
