So this weekend I hit the east side of London to check out the exhibition that everyone's been talking about...The Art of the Brick.
Conveniently located just off Brick Lane, the exhibition reveals some of the greatest works of art created by former US lawyer Nathan Sawaya. From ancient art to human emotion he's transformed the humble brick into masterpieces and this latest exhibition of his work demonstrated his ability and keen eye for replicating human expression and world famous art.
Everyone is obsessed with Lego. Since the little multicoloured bricks arrived in 1949 they've built up a huge following of kids and adults, inspiring us to use our imagination and build whatever springs to mind. Well most people followed the instructions on the box, but I must have been a brick rebel growing up. According to my Dad somewhere in the loft, amongst childhood toys and a sylvanian house, lives the most spectacular treasure chest filled to the brim with bricks that can make a castle with a dungeon, a luxury stable yard for the rich and famous and quite a few spaceships. SPACESHIP! I've even dreamt about living in a three storey, Victorian style Lego town house in Angel. It may not be structurally safe, but it's quite possibly the only way I'll make it on to the property ladder.
It's pretty obvious that I'm a fan of Lego, although I'm no way near in the same league as some die hard fans such as my Best Friend Ally, but I'm a fan none the less. Therefore it was only logical that I found myself admiring the statue of Lego David at the weekend and trying to guess how many bricks had been used to create it.
Each room you walk through is styled to a particular genre or theme, highlighting Sawaya's talent as an artist. I was mesmerised by his brick interpretations of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss and Rembrandt's self portrait, but it's when you step into the human expression room that your jaw will quite literally drop. From a man clawing his way out of another man's stomach to a trapeze artist flexing their muscles, it's incredible to believe that these have all been created simply using Lego. The descriptions around each piece of work is useful, once you look past the slightly cheesy quotes. Even pop fans will be delighted to see that One Direction have been immortalised in Lego beside the Beatles.
But it's when you get to the end of the exhibition where the fun really begins. If you can fend off the crowds of kids, you can delve deep into trays of bricks to make your own creations. I don't think I've seen my Dad so excited to build something - the spaceship he created was very impressive compared to my never ending staircase which had many design faults. His spaceship made it on to the display table, my staircase did not.
Maybe the great return home for Christmas will include a trip into the attic to resurrect the treasure chest of Lego. I might not be able to replicate the Mona Lisa, but I could try.
You've only got till the 4th January to see the exhibition. Visit http://artofthebrick.co.uk, to book tickets.
It only leaves me with one last thing. To share my top five things/objects you should make with Lego:
- The Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. It's more about Hans Solo than the ship
- Anything related to Lord of the Rings even if it's just a plastic version of Gandalf's staff
- The White House - why bother going through the rigours of campaigning when you can build your own version. You can't live in it, but you can look at it
- Anything to do with superheroes. Anyone who has made the Bat Cave is in my opinion the coolest person ever
- Freestyle - don't be limited by what's written on the box and instead come up with something creative. Anything is better than my never ending staircase
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