Carnegie Science Center throws LEGO block party with mind-blowing exhibit

It can be tough to get kids interested in art. But Nathan Sawaya might have found a way to inspire all ages to channel their inner artist through one of the most iconic of all toys: LEGO bricks.

“LEGO is a system, a language in itself,” Sawaya says. “It doesn’t require a spoken language. Everyone gets it. You just have to snap the bricks together.””The Art of the Brick.”

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LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya leads a tour through “The Art of the Brick.” Photo by Tracy Certo.

Sawaya’s “The Art of the Brick” opens June 16 at the Carnegie Science Center’s new PPG Science Pavilion on the North Shore. Featuring more than 100 pieces of art constructed entirely from LEGO bricks, it’s the first major exhibition in the Scaife Exhibit Gallery.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, “Perspective,” is a sculpture inspired by Pittsburgh’s Three Sisters Bridges: the Roberto Clemente, Rachel Carson, and Andy Warhol. The bridges are portrayed in brilliant golden-yellow bricks, with a multi-colored road beneath that coincidentally takes the form of the city’s Golden Triangle.

“We were delighted and surprised he chose to do the bridges,” says Ann Metzger, co-director of the Science Center.

Sawaya’s work has been featured in art and science museums around the world. He has appeared on “The Colbert Report” and “Late Night with David Letterman. “Jeopardy” devoted a category to his work.

While it might seem counterintuitive to feature an exhibit based on a simple toy, co-director Ron Baillie said “The Art of the Brick” complements the Carnegie Science Center’s mission of “learning through play, critical thinking, and making cool stuff.”

And anyone of any age who ever played with LEGOs will agree “The Art of the Brick” is very cool.

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Artist Nathan Sawaya’s “Apples” show his experimentation with LEGOs and how he learned to make round surfaces from squared-off bricks. Photo by Tracy Certo.

Among the highlights:

  • A 20-foot long T-Rex dinosaur made from more than 75,000 bricks that took Sawaya two months to construct.
  • Replicas of famous paintings, including Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” and a 3-D representation of “Whistler’s Mother.”
  • “Yellow,” a life-sized sculpture that features a man ripping his chest open to reveal his inner self.

Sawaya, who lives in New York, draws inspiration from walking around the city, jotting ideas on a sketch pad. To execute his vision, he painstakingly glues each LEGO brick together.

“If I make a mistake, I have a hammer and chisel to tear it apart,” Sawaya says. “It’s heartbreaking the times I have to do that, but that is part of the process.”

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Fans of “Night at the Museum” will recognize this big guy. Photo by Sally Quinn.

Sawaya started his professional career as an attorney before quitting to pursue LEGO art fulltime. It was a tough decision, and not only because he was leaving the security of a law firm for the uncertainty of art.

“When I told friends and colleagues, there was a lot of negativity,” he says. “It surprised me, actually, how close friends were so negative about it and that I was making a mistake. These days I get asked a lot for advice, and one of the things I tell people is that you have to be prepared for that negativity. … You have to push through that negativity if you’re going to follow your passion.”

The simplicity of Sawaya’s medium is reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s depictions of everyday objects, such as Campbell’s Soup cans or Brillo boxes, as high art. Sawaya admits there’s a connection to and affinity for Warhol’s work.

“When I was just starting out, that was the type of question I had,” Sawaya says. “Could I use LEGO bricks as an art medium?”

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“The Art of the Brick” includes 100 sculptures, from the introspective to the playful, such as this giant LEGO pencil. Photo by Tracy Certo.

The answer seems to be a resounding yes. But Sawaya hopes that kids and parents who see “The Art of the Brick” will be inspired to make their own creations.

“I think it’s important that there’s a creative section at the end of the exhibition where people can snap a few bricks together,” he says. “Not just kids, but adults, after seeing the exhibition, will want to get their hand dirty, they want to get their hands on something … It’s a very tactile medium.”

And that’s where “The Science of the Brick” comes into play. Kids can let loose their creativity and ingenuity at 17 activity tables. Challenges include Hidden Hands, using the sense of touch rather than sight; creating a tune with the Music Box, in which colors produce sounds; and creating a winning car in LEGO Drag Race.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 7.