The Art of the Brick to Debut at The Mansfield Art Center

    MANSFIELD, OH, August 14, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Beginning September 21, 2013, the Mansfield Art Center will host The Art of the Brick, an exhibition featuring large-scale sculptures created out of iconic LEGO bricks by New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya. The Art of the Brick is one of the largest and most popular art exhibits touring the globe. CNN hailed The Art of the Brick as one of the top twelve "must-see exhibitions in the world." Complete visitor information and a free visitors guide to the region, is available online at www.MansfieldTourism.com or MansfieldTourism.com/mobile or by calling (800) 642-8282.

"This year alone, we've visited Australia, South Africa and Taiwan," said Sawaya. "We are thrilled to be bringing this collection to Mansfield."

Like most young kids, Sawaya started playing with LEGOs at a young age. But unlike most kids, Sawaya never stopped building, creating and exploring his own imagination via the interlocking toy bricks. The result has solidified his place in pop culture history and he is making an indelible mark on the art world as well. The award-winning artist has catapulted the iconic LEGO brick into an art medium all its own, transforming this construction toy into awe-inspiring and thought provoking sculptures.

The centerpiece of Sawaya's sculpture collection, as well as arguably his most famous piece of artwork, is entitled Yellow, a torso of a man ripping open his chest while yellow plastic bricks cascade out of the open chest cavity. Sawaya has made a name for himself by creating out of LEGO exacting replicas of the human form in various states of emotion, including anger, love, depression and joy.

Concurrently on display at the Mansfield Art Center for the run of the exhibition will be Sawaya's unique multi-media collaboration with award-winning Australian photographer Dean West, entitled In Pieces. The two artists spent years traveling and working together to blend their crafts resulting in the IN PIECES collection of visually stunning hyper-realistic images that are exhibited with corresponding and complimentary three-dimensional LEGO sculptures.

"I use LEGO bricks as my medium because I enjoy seeing people's reactions to artwork created from something with which they are familiar. Everyone can relate to it, since it is a toy that many children have at home. I want to elevate this simple plaything to a place that it has never been before. I want to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before. I also appreciate the cleanliness of the medium. The right angles. The distinct lines. As so often in life, it is a matter of perspective. Up close, the shape of the brick is distinctive. But from a distance, those right angles and distinct lines change to curves," Sawaya said.

The Art of the Brick will be on view at the MANSFIELD ART CENTER, September 21, 2013 through November 16, 2013, 11am-5pm Tuesday through Sunday, $10 age 16 and over; $5 under age 16

About Nathan Sawaya
Nathan Sawaya had a promising career as a practicing attorney when he walked away and to become an artist nearly 10 years ago. Now he no longer negotiates contracts in a boardroom, but instead creates awe-inspiring art exclusively with LEGO bricks. He is a New York-based artist who creates works out of some of the most unlikely things. His current museum exhibitions tour the world featuring large-scale sculptures using only toy building blocks. LEGO bricks to be exact. Sawaya has more than 2.5 million colored bricks in his art studio. Sawaya has been featured on some of the leading talk shows and news programs including The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, The Colbert Report and CBS Sunday Morning. For more information on Nathan Sawaya, visit www.brickartist.com.

About Dean West
Dean West is an acclaimed and award-winning photographer who specializes in highly conceptual and thought-provoking contemporary portraiture. His body of work has been featured in top photography magazines and art galleries around the world. Born in Australia and currently living in Toronto, Dean has also been named "one of the world's best emerging photographers" by After Capture Magazine and included in Saatchi & Saatchi's collection of the world's top 100 emerging photographers. See more of his work at HYPERLINK www.deanwest.com.

About the Mansfield Art Center
Architecturally renowned, the Mansfield Art Center opened in 1971. Designed by Don Hisaka, the Art Center resembles a pristine cubist sculpture, with its two-story gallery and a single-story education wing in a seven-acre wooded setting. The Art Center brings exciting visual art experiences and education to the north central Ohio region. Information is found at www.MansfieldArtCenter.org.

This fall is the ideal time to visit, Mansfield and Richland County, Ohio to experience the region's autumn offerings, including the Prairie Peddler Festival, Malabar Farm Heritage Days, the opportunity to pick apples and the area's spectacular fall foliage display. A destination unlike any other, Mansfield is home to a wealth of unusual travel adventures and experiences, such as visiting the working farm where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married to spending the night in a haunted former state prison where Hollywood blockbuster movies are filmed. Breathtaking scenery, rural and hometown experiences, as well as hiking, biking, golf, cross-country and downhill skiing, bird watching and loads of other outdoor adventures attract families and visitors of all ages. Complete visitor information and a free visitors guide, is available by calling (800) 642-8282 or online at www.MansfieldTourism.com or MansfieldTourism.com/mobile.

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