The Art of the Brick

© Trazee Travel | Kimberly Krol

I recently spent a Sunday afternoon checking out The Art of the Brick exhibit at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. While I didn’t play with Legos much aschild, I must admit, the exhibit, featuring more than 100 Lego creations from artist Nathan Sawaya, was one of the coolest, most impressive shows I’ve seen.

Sawaya left corporate America behind to follow his passion and become a full-time artist, and today, he’s the only artist to work exclusively with the toy. Eight different galleries highlighted different types of art. The first was Sawaya’s interpretations of world-famous pieces, like Mona Lisa and American Gothic. In other galleries, he explored themes of life and emotion with more interpretative sculptures. One of my favorites was the gallery where he teamed up with a photographer and in each photo one element was crafted of Legos. Both the photo and the Lego sculpture were on display. A 20-foot-long Tyrannosaurus Rex composed of more than 80,000 bricks had its own dedicated gallery.

© Trazee Travel | Kimberly Krol

My personal favorite was “The Writer,” featuring a sculpture of a man pushing an oversized pencil. Seems a natural choice, given my profession.

The Art of the Brick is on display in Philadelphia through Sept. 6, but is also touring globally. At the moment, it can be seen in Johannesburg, Paris and Wisconsin. Upcoming shows will be in North Carolina, Texas and Florida.

© Trazee Travel | Kimberly Krol

I highly recommend checking out the exhibit if it’s touring near you or in a city you are visiting. I can guarantee you won’t see any other artwork quite like this and you will no doubt be impressed by the way Sawaya adds dimension, emotion and creative interpretation to his sculptures.