Some of the most famous paintings in history have just arrived in Rome for a unique exhibit. But they're a bit different than one might expect.
That's because these have been made from Legos. They're part of an exhibition called 'The Art of Bricks,â? from the American artist Nathan Sawaya. The 80 works of art, made from the classic children's toy, have come to Rome for the first time.
FABIO DI GIOIA
Curator
'If someone with the same materials that everyone else has, like Nathan Sawaya, can make an extraordinary work, we see anyone could have done it. And that is what they like so much, even the adults.â?
And with these tiny materials, the artist created some truly massive art. This dinosaur was made of 80,000 Lego pieces, and it took an entire summer to contstruct. It was broken into 14 parts and is balanced with wires hanging from the ceiling.
FABIO DI GIOIA
Curator
'Nathan Sawaya does two things as an artist: he recreates reality and he also makes works of art. In fact, he shows not only things that surprise us because they are so familiar, but also conceptual figures and art. They look at the human condition. They are works that make us reflect and think.â?
The artist was originally a lawyer in New York, and he even worked for Lego for six months in the past. Now, his body of work is so extensive that he is able to maintain five different exhibitions at the same time throughout the world.
Some parts of the Roman exhibition are the same in different exhibits, but others are unique. For Rome, he built a map of the Italian peninsula.
'The Art of Bricksâ? began touring the world in 2007, and it will be in the Eternal City until February 14th.
The more than one million Legos in the exhibit push the limit of human patience, and also show off how creative we can be with even simple tools.
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