At Nassau County Museum of Art through March 18
Closed Christmas Day & New Year's Day
No longer just for child’s play, plastic toy building bricks have become material for fine art. The New York sculptor, Nathan Sawaya, is one of the most prominent of contemporary artists creating fine art with LEGO® blocks. Sawaya’s work, exploring themes of identity, elevates brick art to a new phase of artistic expression through large-scale sculptures that portray complexities of the human condition. Nathan Sawaya: Recent Works is organized by Elaine Berger for the museum’s Contemporary Collectors Circle in cooperation with the Agora Gallery in New York.
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Nathan Sawaya is well known for his groundbreaking fusion of pop art and surrealism within artworks comprised solely of LEGO® building blocks. Says Sawaya: “By working with an unconventional medium, I work within the trappings of a self-imposed prison.” His gripping images of human figures are alive with emotion. While at times ironic, the works also expose and comment on raw elements of the human experience.
Work by Nathan Sawaya is found in public and private collections including the National Marine Corps Museum, Neiman Marcus, New Orleans Public Library and The New York Times. The installation at Nassau County Museum of Art includes the eight-foot-high Pushing Against, a red figure with raised arms, and the five-foot high The Courage Within, a mostly grey work highlighted by a view into the figure’s red abdomen. Other works in the exhibition include Trapped, a two-foot-high red figure enclosed within a box; Strength of Spirit, a two-foot high hand holding a small human figure; and Goodbye, a two-and-a-half foot high erect grey figure losing its parts as it walks away.
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Nassau County Museum of Art is located at One Museum Drive (just off Northern Boulevard, Route 25A, two traffic lights west of Glen Cove Road) in Roslyn Harbor. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Docent-led tours of the exhibition are offered at 2 p.m. each day; meet in the lobby, no reservations needed. Admission to the galleries in the Arnold & Joan Saltzman Fine Art Building is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (62 and above) and $4 for students and children (4 to12). Members are admitted free. There is a $2 parking fee on weekends (free for members). The Museum Gift Shop is open during museum hours.
