Legos As Fine Art? The Art of the Brick Exhibit

a group of framed pictures of a painting

One of the best art exhibits I’ve been to in a while is The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya. If you haven’t thought about Legos as fine art, this might change your mind.a sign in a museum

It hadn’t really occurred to me one way or the other, my friend is a big Lego enthusiast so it made sense to make a stop at the Portland OMSI exhibit on our Oregon to California roadtrip. I was blown away. The exhibit started with a brief video showing the artist at work. Cool. And then we entered the exhibit where some of the world’s masterpiece paintings were perfectly copied…in Lego.a wall with a picture of a horse made of legos

a group of framed pictures on a wall

They were gorgeous, in fact I’m not sure that I didn’t prefer the Lego version to the original in some cases. From the paintings the exhibit continued to iconic statues and then the artist’s own ideas.a lego art on a wall

a statue of a woman in a dress

a red and grey statue of a man

Upstairs was even more exciting, both playful and thought provoking.a yellow statue made of legos

One of my favorites was the still life scene, everything built with legos and only the painting in color.a black and white checkered floor with a painting and a table

The mixed media photographs were also impressive. Posed photographs with a few of the everyday elements represented by real life Lego, not just photo-shopped in. Anyone else wish they had that red dress?a woman in a red dress walking on a sidewalk

a red lego figure in a museum
The actual dress in the picture

I had originally gone to humor my friend but left very enthused. Appropriate for both kids and adults. If it comes to a city near you, definitely try to go.

Current Exhibitions

  • Capitol District Omaha, Nebraska
  • Palazzo degli Esami, Rome, Italy 
  • ARA Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
  • Union Station Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri

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