LEGO Mania!

During my lunch break today, I made the short trek from my office to the ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands to see a special exhibit called The Art of the Brick. It’s not closing for a few more months, but I was anxious to go before I fly to Hong Kong on Friday because the pictures I’d seen were dazzling. And what with the weekend crowds and all, I figured the best time to visit might be in the middle of the week, between noon and 2pm when I take my lunch break.

It was a stunning exhibit, and if you find yourself in Singapore during its run—or in any city where the travelling show comes on its world tour—I highly suggest forking over the admission fee to be awed and amazed by the incredible artwork. Most incredible of all is the fact that each and every sculpture on display is created entirely out of LEGOs.

Nathan Sawaya is the artist whose works form the entirety of this exhibit, and he has got to be one of the most imaginative men on the planet. How he thinks of and executes his masterworks is a fascinating process, and the exhibit gives insights into his ever-working mind.  Quotes on the walls of the various rooms reveal that he takes inspiration from memories, fears, real-life events and his beliefs. And the small snippets of information displayed beside each sculpture often delve into the quasi-philosophical roots behind each of his works.

It all started when he was five years old, he says, and his grandparents gave him a LEGO set for Christmas. Over the years, he had to put the LEGO blocks aside and focus on his role in the real world (he was an attorney) before finally deciding that LEGO sculptures were his passion and devoting himself full-time to their creation.

Now a successful artist, an official LEGO Master Builder and a LEGO Certified Professional (yes, those are real things), Sawaya devotes his life to the creation and exhibition of LEGO sculptures. He’s made LEGO photographs, LEGO skulls, LEGO recreations of world landmarks, LEGO faces and full-sized LEGO humans. There was even, believe or not, an enormous LEGO dinosaur to cap off the exhibit. Each and every sculpture was amazing, from his famous Yellow to some of his less well-known (but still spectacular) pieces.

Below are some of my favorite shots I took this afternoon. Since words can’t really describe his work, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking! 

Yellow is Sawaya's most famous LEGO sculpture

LEGO portrait of the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock

A self-portrait of the artist

Raindrops

Raindrops up close

Me and Blue Man

The entire scene is made of LEGOs, from the high table to the dresser to the easel!

Portrait of Bob Dylan

The Parthenon sculpture is made of around 20,000 LEGO bricks!

Massive Tyrannosaurus Rex made up of around 80,000 bricks!

LEGO model of the ArtScience Museum