The global sensation The Art of the Brick is coming to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science from June 19, 2020 to January 24, 2021. This will be the first time the exhibition will be in Denver, Colorado. The Art of the Brick is a global touring exhibition rated by CNN as one of the world’s must see exhibitions. Nathan is also the consulting producer for the upcoming U.S. version of the LEGO Masters television show. Details on both events below.
Nathan has taken LEGO bricks from beloved toys to artistic marvels in the exhibition. His original artworks and his reimagined versions of famous masterpieces from art and culture, such as Van Gogh’s Starry Night and the Venus de Milo will wow guests. Nathan has multiple unique exhibitions created solely from standard LEGO bricks often with several new sculptures created specifically for each exhibition.
The experience also showcases a collection of LEGO-infused hyper-realistic photography from Nathan’s innovative collaboration with award-winning photographer Dean West. From fan favorite Yellow, a life-size sculpture of a man with thousands of yellow LEGO bricks cascading from his chest, to a T. Rex skeleton made out of 80,000 LEGO bricks, guests will be inspired by how the power of imagination and creativity can build endless possibilities. Guests of all ages will also put their own ingenuity to work in an area filled with LEGO bricks and many opportunities for building challenges and interactive play.
To celebrate the upcoming event, the museum is also running a special LEGO brick building contest for local youth, and the winning creations will be displayed with this blockbuster exhibition. The required theme is nature and science. If you live in the area and would like to enter, you can read the rules and regulations, complete the registration form, and send a photo of your artwork following the directions on this page: THE ART OF THE BRICK CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Previously an NYC corporate lawyer, Nathan is the first artist to ever take LEGO into the art world. He earned a top position in the world of contemporary art and created a new dimension by merging pop art and surrealism in awe-inspiring and groundbreaking ways. His art consists of playing with the material, color, movement, light, and perspective. His unique exhibition is the first of its kind to focus exclusively on LEGO as an art medium and has broken attendance records around the globe. The creations, constructed from countless individual LEGO pieces, were built from standard bricks beginning as early as 2002.
Nathan is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, recognizing his artwork and cultural achievements. In 2014, with the belief that art is not optional, Sawaya founded The Art Revolution Foundation for the purpose of making art a priority in our schools and our homes. He has been a speaker at Google Zeitgeist, TEDx, Yahoo!, and numerous universities. Nathan is also a bestselling author. His book, The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO is intimate, delightful, and uplifting with just the right balance between stories and pictures. I highly recommend it. You can read my full review of the book here, and check it out on Amazon: THE ART OF THE BRICK BY NATHAN SAWAYA
Nathan was also recently interviewed by both Brickset and the Brothers-Brick where he talks about his work and his involvement with the LEGO Masters television show. Just like in his book, Nathan is open and personal and shares some insightful details. You can read the interviews by clicking on the links above. And you can also learn more about Nathan at his website at NathanSawaya.com.
So, if you’re in the Denver area at the above mentioned dates, consider visiting the exhibit. It’s totally worth experiencing at least once. What do you think? Have you participated in the Art of the Brick exhibit before? Feel free to share your thoughts and reviews in the comment section below!
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I had the chance to see ‘Art of the Brick’ on display in Park City, Utah (a little less than an hour East of Salt Lake City) several years ago. Really worth checking out if you’re a Lego fan, even if you’re like me and probably wouldn’t visit a museum at the drop of a hat! Lol! Really worth seeing in person if you can.
Yeah, it’s definitely worth checking out. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I would love to meet Nathan in person. He sounds like a great guy. I read the Brickset interview with him. It’s surprizing that he suffers from depression.
I read that too, and have been thinking about it. I suppose if you look at his builds, many of them are depressed looking creatures ripping themselves apart. It’s a unique combination of expressing deep and dark subjects through a playful and bright medium. I do hope that he has the support network to deal with depression. It’s a terrible thing to suffer from.
It’s surprising that many of his models are not glued. Respect!
A few years ago, when I heard and saw that Lego can be turned into an art form . I thought ” yeah, I can see that”. If you think about being creative is an art form. You are using your imagination to create something. Looking at Nathan’s work it is just so amazing and beautiful to look at. Very inspiring. It also takes you to a place that when things are out of control in the real world. You have a place to go to in your mind that you have control over. I think we all have these places. When I started collect and building Lego sets, it was because I was in an unhappy place in my life. I guess you can say Lego is my silver lining in my dark Cloud. I’m happy now😁 and it’s all because of lego.
Hm… thanks for sharing that. I’m glad you found a fulfilling and uplifting hobby at difficult times. Yes, being creative does uplift the spirit. Keep on brickin’! ::
Instead of ” just keep swimming “from dory in the movie finding nemo. I’ll say ” just keep building”. Lol! I’m was happy to share . It tells us how much of a positive impact Lego has or can be for people.
And that’s the truth! 😀
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after
I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all
that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say excellent blog!