Sometimes the most exciting LEGO photo is not a tiny greeble-packed spaceship or a castle wall with three different masonry tricks hiding in the corners. Sometimes it is a big orange sign that says: yep, bricks have fully escaped the toy aisle and taken over the gallery.
Mulderville USA’s shot from Dirk Denoyelle’s Bricks of Wonder / Au Coeur des Bricks exhibition in Paris has that opening-night energy. Denoyelle, a Belgian LEGO artist known for portraits, mosaics, and large-scale sculptural work, stands in front of the show signage like he is welcoming everyone into a very specific kind of madness: pop culture, fine art, optical illusions, robotic arms, and probably enough ABS to make Ole Kirk Christiansen raise an eyebrow.
What I like here is the framing of LEGO as a creative medium instead of just a finished object. The tags point to 2D mosaics, 3D sculptures, portraits, interactive installations, and a family play zone, which is basically the full brick buffet. It is the kind of exhibition that reminds you how weirdly flexible this system is: one minute it is Mr. Bean, the next it is Van Gogh, and somewhere in the middle there is a robotic arm doing brick sorcery.
Build by Mulderville USA on Flickr.
