The Art of the Brick - A Life in LEGO by Nathan Sawaya - Book Review.

The Art of the Brick -

A life of Lego by Nathan Sawaya

Now I do have to admit the biggest sin of them all, I missed my chance to go and see the amazing The Art of the Brick exhibit when it was in London. I regret not going. After seeing on-line images and reading this book by the artist Nathan Sawaya, just makes me feel worst about it. With a growing interest and artist fascination with the simple brick; the art world has grown bigger and bigger with more artist coming out of the wood work.

Now in my opinion Nathan is the best Lego Sculpture artist I have ever seen. Using only a simple brick to create these beautiful sculptures. From up close the sculpture is blocky and pixilated but from a far the piece seems smooth and realistic. Allowing the artwork to change perspective of the item from different distances.

Nathan creates a miscellaneous types of sculptures. Some a recreations of day-to-day items (for example, apples a dog), artworks (for example, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt) and a number of unusual modern art human sculptures (for example, Yellow). Some of these sculptures are actually featured in the book.

Looking at the book itself, is a high quality book. The book is full of amazing images of each sculpture which is described on every page. The great thing about this book, is how its written by the artist himself; rather than a critic who describes what he thinks of each art work depicted. Doing the book this way allows the reader to get a glimpse in the world of the artist and the inspiration behind each piece. Giving you, the reader, a personal perspective and the true idea behind the art, rather a false interpretation of someone else.

MOC inspired by

Nathan Sawaya

Okay you might be saying 'why don't you like art critics opinions?' That's not what I am trying to say, they all have valid opinions and art is there to be interpreted. Each view of a piece of art will be in fact different and comes from how the viewer feels about the art work in question. Art is there to be bring out those emotions and ideas. Although it can be far more interesting to learn the inspiration of the artist and their intention of the piece itself. For example, one may look at Yellow a say, it about a broken heart. The gapping whole of what was once there when they were loved. Which is completely valid; although Nathan, the artist, will say its a person opening their true self to the world without fear and how this has shown in his own life experiences. So the explanation by the artist can be more valuable than others as it gives you more of an insight.

Well then would I suggest to you to get this book? Yes, would be the simple answer. If you are a fun of Lego and/or art then don't hesitate to get this book. This book is valuable as it give you a insight into the world of the artist, Nathan Sawaya and his fantastic pieces of art he loves to create. Getting this book will be the most fascinating thing you will do today.

Google's Art & Culture - Online Galleries

Now Google's Art & Culture is an really interesting and probably is the biggest of the on-line museum and art galleries catalogs out there. Maybe, because Google is a billion pound company or as they have started this project a long time ago and they have built it up to what it is today from there. Now I am not going to take a look at all about this amazing site has to offer, as this would be like reviewing the internet itself, a impossible task.

When the Art Project first started in 2011, the site had a huge collection of scanned works of art. For the first time you could take a close look at works of art and learn about the pieces; and the artiest who made them. You could see the artist brush strokes and the detail of the art work which you might have never been able to do at a art gallery. The project has evolved and now you can do and see so much more. 

At the moment I believe the site is a beta test and might be changed or updated to something even better than what's up at the moment but I see this as really unlikely.

You can take a look at articles, artefacts, art work, museum collection, Google Earth drop-in historic and museum/art galleries; historical accounts on events, people and so much more. 

Now with the artefacts, art work and museum collections you take a close look at individual objects with high detail. The site allows you to look close to objects for the first time. This makes you feel like you are looking at the object face-to-face or with a magnifying glass. Allowing you to see everything from the artist's brush strokes to every tiny detail.

Now there is a fabulous section of the site were you can digitally drop into a historic locations or museum/art galleries. In the same style as the drop-in setting of Google Earth, this allows to take a virtual tour of the location. This gives you idea of what the place it like and also allows to take a closer look of the highlights of the exhibits, giving you a taster of what you can see.

Now I could go on and on about this site as there is so much of it to take about.

The whole site is amazing. However, the only thing that I can say which is bad is the size of the collection they provide you. Now to many that's not a problem and it isn't but it is a problem if you can't search through all which they have. For example you have 1,692 of them. You get a search engine to search things, this is great if you know what you are looking for. However, can't possible know what they have to offer if you don't know and you are simply browsing. In my opinion it would be far easier with a filter system allowing you to select specific theme, century, topic etc. In the way they provide you, you would need to sieve through all what they have to find something you wish to take a look at. The other problem is the search engine itself as if you spell anything wrong, the search engine will not recognize it or give you alternatives search. So at the end you will turn up with your search with practically nothing.

Although it has some problems I must give Google a huge amount of credit. This site is what museums should inspire to with their own on-line catalog or gallery. 

My Build: The Face

'The Face' was something that was a first for me to do, a unplanned build and with no real design what so ever. The build was originally inspired by Nathan Sawaya's amazing Lego artwork, such as many of his builds at 'The Art Of The Brick'. 

Very much unlike this model, Sawaya's artwork is planned, only builds with simplest parts, such as 2x4 or 2x2 bricks and also uses a uniform colour. Now this model was built up of anything I had to hand which seemed to make the build structurally sound. 

As you can see the model is made up multiple amount of colours from Lego's palette. What might not be obvious is that I used a lot of different types of bricks to create the model, these included, corner, technic and slopped bricks, etc. 

The whole thing is hollow but to keep some of the structure together there are some technic beams to hold a lot of it all up.

I don't know about you but I think as a first try at sculpting with Lego, that bad. I might later on build another out of one colour, like Sawaya. You never know it might even look 10x better than this one.

Little Big Art - Andy Morris

Little Big Art

Andy Morris takes his inspiration from previous art pieces and makes it his own by adding a LEGO twist to them. Using LEGO and Pop Art as his medium, he creates a unique way of seeing modern art. 

You might be thinking that all his work is going to be typically similar to other LEGO artists who create large sculptures using bricks, like Nathan Sawaya. You might be disappointed to learn that's not what he does, but you won't be disappointed for long. Using photography, sculpturing and LEGO models, Morris beautifully recreates famous works of are using the simple brick.

Andy Warhol
1928-1987

Morris' first ever project was the Artist Series. This is a collection of images that depicts famous artist and their work represented in LEGO recreating them as real and true as possible. Staying on the same idea of recreating artist in LEGO, Morris constructed the infamous party animal Pop Artist, Andy Warhol, and even though the minifig is simple it is a good and effective representation of the artist. Accompanying the minifig is a exclusively printed Marilyn Monroe tile that which represents one of Warhol's most famous pieces.  

Branching from this range, Morris has created three LEGO models, which are to represent modern art exhibits such as, The Tank - Damien Hirst's Shark in Formaldehyde; or The Gallery in which you can choose the art pieces that go on display. These include Damien Hirst's spots, Piet Mondrian's composition No.III with red, yellow and blue and Andy Warhol's Money. With each model you know you are going to get a lot of fun from building and displaying your own art, showing it to your friends and family.

Human-Size Marilyn tile.

Morris has also probably made every child (or adult's) dream of being a minifig a reality with his Human-Size LEGO range. You can hold life-size LEGO tiles with his Marilyn & Money tiles that are again inspired by the work of Warhol. He then goes a step further with his largest artwork with Spots and Money Wall pieces. The Spots being based spots on Damien Hirst infamous work, and the Money by Andy Warhol. 

Not all of Morris' work is inspired by previous artworks, with his newest work, for example, Human-Size LEGO Ice Creams, he takes the artificial plastic toy ice cream and makes it seem real by representing it as melting in the hot sun. In my opinion they almost bring a new meaning to realism.

Roo

If that's not enough for you? Morris has immortalized himself in The Travels of Roo. Roo is a Lego minifig based on a self portrait of himself. Taking Roo on his travels across the globe, taking photos of him in-front of many different iconic locations in many countries, from New York in the US to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. #thetravelsofroo 

Andy Morris is a unique and brilliant artist. He takes inspiration from the greats and in the process makes him one one of them. 

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Michelangelo - 'The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.'

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on 6th March 1475 in Caprese, Italy. A few weeks after his birth his family moved to Florence.

In 1488 he became an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. He then lived in the household of Lorenzo de' Medici, the leading patron of the arts and ruler of Florence. In 1496, the Medici were expelled from Florence, Michelangelo then travelled to Bologna and then Rome.In 1497, he was able to make a name for himself after his 'Pieta'. He then returned to Florence. Here produced one of his most famous pieces, 'David' 1501-1504.

He was recalled to Rome in 1505 by Pope Julius II to design Julius' tomb. However, the project was never completed because of quarrels between Julius and Michelangelo, and other projects he had going on at the sametime. Michelangelo was later commissioned to do the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (1508-1512).

The new Pope, Leo X, commissioned Michelangelo to rebuild the facade of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. However, it was later abandoned, but it was the beginning of Michelangelo's activities as a architect. Michelangelo also designed monuments to Giuliano and Lorenzo de Medici in the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo. 

Michelangelo making
'David' 1501-1504

In 1534, Michelangelo returned to Rome, he was then commissioned to paint 'The Last Judgement' on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel (1537-1541). In 1546 he worked on the great church of St. Peter's.

He the died in Rome on 18th February 1564.

Andy Warhol - "the idea of waiting for something makes it moreexciting."

Lego Warhol and
his Campbell's Soup tin.

Andrew Warhola was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. Both of his parents emigrated to the US from Slovak Republic. Warhola or Warhol was an American artist, who was a leading figure in the movement of Pop Art. His work looked at relationships between expression, celebrity culture, advertisement and death in the 1960s.   

Between 1945 and 1949, Warhola studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology. In 1949 he moved to New York where he changed his name to Warhol. Once there he started work as a commercial artist for magazines, designer for advertising and window displays. 

In the early 1960s, Warhol began experimenting with reproductions based on advertisement, newspaper headlines and other mass-produced image, coming up with the Campbell's Soup tin and Coca Cola bottles.

In 1962, he began his portrait series of Marilyn Monroe. Then later going on to Jackie Kennedy and Elvis portraits. That same year Warhol took part in a New Realists exhibitions in a number of New York art galleries, the first reorganization of Pop Art.

Lego Warhol
with his famou dollar print.

In 1963, Warhol began making experimental films, depicting things from everyday life such as the 'Eat' and the 'Sleep' or something more outrageous as the 'Kiss' or even the 'Blow Job'. Most of these films can last as long as 45 minets to an hour or more. In 1968, Warhol was shot and seriously injured by Valerie Solanas, a radical feminist writer.

Warhol was an internationally famous artist who had his work exhibited around the world through the 1970s and 1980s. Although on 22nd February 1987, Warhol died in a New York hospital after having a gallbladder operation.