nathan sawaya at agora gallery

nathan sawaya: red agora gallery, new york november 23rd to december 4th, 2010

‘strength of spirit’ plastic bricks 38″ x 21″ x 21″

‘red’ is an exhibition at agora gallery representing a shift in the career of LEGO brick artist nathan sawaya, showcasing his most recent works, which have entered a new territory for both the artist himself and his chosen medium.

in ‘red’, sawaya tackles issues of personal importance, bringing a level of reality to his figures, reflecting both his own individual experience and emotions, as well as involvement within the world, which we can all relate to. symbolic significant is an important theme, playing a crucial role in enabling us to understand both individual pieces and the change that has taken place in sawaya’s artistic approach more broadly.

‘cracking up’ plastic bricks 32″ x 33″ x 15″

agora gallery recently interviewed nathan about his work. here is an excerpt:

how did you originally get involved with LEGO art? what attracted you to this medium as a form of expression?

nathan: well, first, the bricks were there, in my house as a child growing up. accessibility is the first and foremost important element to getting started. we didn’t have slabs of marble or coils of rebar lying around. although if we had, imagine what I could have created!

as I grew up, I experimented with more traditional media, such as clay and wire. but I kept coming back to these rectangles that clicked together so perfectly. then I challenged myself to fool the eye and make right angles appear to be curves and smooth lines. then I just kept at it, kept building and perfecting my art. eventually I opened an art studio in new york and focused on LEGO artwork full time.

you may read the full interview online here.

left: ‘kissing’ (full), plastic bricks, 27″ x 21″ x 20″ right: ‘kissing’ (half), plastic bricks, 14″ x 11″ x 10″