Lakeview Museum
1125 W Lake Ave, Peoria
309-686-3382
Art of the Brick
April 10 – September 6, 2010
When we think of sculptural art, we imagine something made by casting metal or carving stone or perhaps modeling in clay. With Art of the Brick we realize that even a child’s toy may provide the inspiration and material for creating imaginative works of art. The 29 sculptural works in this exhibition were created exclusively using the little colorful, rectangular LEGO® bricks popular with children all around the world.
Nathan Sawaya is the artist who created these works, having found a way to turn his childhood passion for creating familiar and imagined objects with LEGO building bricks into a highly creative and gratifying career. He is one of just nine LEGO Certified Professionals in the world, officially licensed but not employed by the LEGO company to use LEGO products for commercial and artistic purposes, each of whom exemplifies the creative possibilities of the LEGO building systems.
Sawaya is a full-time artist who fine-tuned his craft creating awe-inspiring and large-scale sculptures as a LEGO Master Model Builder for the LEGOLAND theme park in Southern California. His art primarily takes shape in three-dimensional sculptures and oversized mosaic portraits. Art of the Brick is the first exhibition of its kind ever to focus exclusively on the LEGO brick as an art medium.