Nathan Sawaya's REPLAY @ Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
Like most children growing up in the 80’s I was a kid in love with Legos. I can remember stacking rows upon rows of brightly colored bricks to make a “house” for my little Lego people to live in. Ultimately, my windowless/doorless creation resembled a padded cell more than a home.
Obviously I was not a very successful 3D artist. Thankfully, Nathan Sawaya does a much better job with his Legos, returning to the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood for his exhibition REPLAY, and lucky for everyone, there’s not a “house” in the entire building.
It was difficult to walk into such a show and not crack an immediate smile. The bright colors are magnetic and scream to be pulled apart and reassembled. This is probably why each piece is boldly tagged “Please do not touch artwork” with its own label. Obviously the staff at the ACC saw those hoards of kids (and me) coming.
Although the medium is a product of my childhood, and a good number of the exhibition’s viewers are under the age of 10, Sawaya’s subject matter is in no way juvenile. He has taken this basic toy and constructed an expressive collection of busts and figures that deal with very serious underlying themes. With each brick Sawaya was able to create an internal struggle for each of the pieces; demons within, loss of identity, the shattering of reality and destruction of spirit. The securely glued bricks exposed an individual crumbling, splitting, and falling apart.
The irony of these particular pieces is the juxtaposition of such a dark subject matter with such vibrant colors. Although I enjoyed the more playful elements of his show (an oversized pencil, a partially Lego-ed bike, and a tower of stackable planets) I found the faces and figures to be the foundation of the exhibition.
The show will be on display until August 15th and the Art and Culture Center is offering Summer Field Trips and Group Tours. The center has also dedicated a room as an “activity area” where visitors have the opportunity to create their own Lego based works of art.
As if that didn’t have you already running to the toy section, they’re also sponsoring a Lego Creation Challenge, a contest open to all Florida residents to produce their own Lego based creations. A full list of challenge rules and details can be found on the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood website but basically this is a great excuse to get together with some friends/family and embrace your inner artist.
Shelves all across South Florida are being cleared out of our most favorite building block. As for me, I’m going to go raid my parents’ garage for my Cabbage Patch Doll and my Skip It.
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