Gallery Name: Building Blocks in Art
Location: Internet
Ran By: Jamie Taylor
Type of Work Shown: Artist who used pieces of things that didn't seem like much, to create amazing art.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Exhibition Introduction
Building Blocks in Art
Pete Fecteau
Sonia King
Nathan Sawaya
Robert Mills
Frank Owen Gehry
Patrick St. Germain
Nicholas Foo
Sol LeWitt
Sean Kenney
Kumi Yamashita
This show is about how pieces that seem to be nothing can
come together to create something amazing. For example, a single Rubik’s Cube doesn’t
look like much, but when thousands of them are put together in a certain
pattern, they can make a mural that is incredible. An item such as a Lego which
was intended to be a Child's toy can be turned into a master piece. How about an
ordinary stone? When added to other stones it can create a beautiful mural.
Pete Fecteau- Dream Big
Pete Fecteau
Dream Big
Rubik’s Cubes
19′ x 8’6″ x 2.25″ weight is about 1000lbs
September 2010
Pete was bornin Arizona
on April 9th 1983. He
attended Plymouth State
University in Plymouth,
New Hampshire and was taking graphic design
classes. He then transferred to Kendall
College of art and Design where he got
a Bachelors degree in fine art for digital media design.
On Pete’s website he has a fan with the screen name of
Stoffershory say this about Dream Big “That is amazing Pete. Lot’s
of determination and planning I’m guessing. I can’t even do ONE Rubik’s Cube,
let alone over 4,000 (and I’ve still got my original cube from the 70s)!”
The cubes that were rented to create Dream Big cost $9000.
It took 4,242 cubes to complete the mural. After Dream big was entered into a
competition and placed in the top 50out of 1,700 pieces entered, it was put up
for sale. After multiple attempts and failures to sell the mural, it was
dissembled ant the cubes were retuned to where they were rented from.
I chose this piece of work because I felt that it fit in
with my theme very well. The mural was amazing, especially being made of Rubik’s
Cubes. It is amazing that Pete was able to manipulate that many cubes to make
such an amazing picture.
Sonia King- Spinoff
Sonia King
Spinoff
chrysocolla, malachite,
amazonite, pearls, ceramic, glass, turquoise, smalti, paua shell, beach glass,
pebbles, abalone, crystals, gold, and labradorite
18”x24”
2007
Sonia first came in contact with
mosaics as a child when her mother would create pieces of mosaic art. She
received a Bacholors in Fine Art at California College of The Arts, and a
Masters from Southern Methodist University. She has also been fetured on HGTV’s
Modern Masters, as well as several books.
Sonia says that” Spinoff
creates a world that doesn't exist. A world that evokes islands drifting
in the Pacific, galaxies moving through space or perhaps microscopic life forms
breaking free. A world to lose oneself in, a world for dreams infinite
and surreal, a world to step into and perceive with heightened senses. A
world created by the juxtaposition of precious stones, gold and pearls
interspersed between recycled scraps of ceramic, beach glass, paua shell and
more that continually offers differing views with multiple points of interest.”
Sonia states that the art that she creates gives tangible
shape and form to the unknown, and creates maps to where she will never find
again.
I chose this piece because I liked the colors used. It
relates to my theme because it shows that you can have a bunch of random pieces
that may mean nothing, but when they are put together they can create something
beautiful.
Nathan Sawaya- New York Public Library Lions
Nathan Sawaya
New York
Public Library Lions
Lego Bricks
37" x 63" x 25"
June 2011
Nathan Sawaya is an artist based out of New
York. He was born in Colville,
Washington.
His creations are all created out of Lego blocks. He has been able to
show his work all over the United States,
and most recently has been able to show his work in other countries as well.
The two lions were constructed for the 100th anniversary of
the New York Public library in June of 2011. The lions were made to be exactly
half the size of the lions that were placed in front of the building 100 years
earlier. It took about 60,00 bricks to construct both lions.
Nathan had this to say about building the sculptures of the
two lions; “The marble lions are named Patience and Fortitude. And, as you can
guess, while building these sculptures I needed a lot of patience and forties.”
I chose to use Nathan’s work because he has amazing talent.
What was originally designed to entertain
children, Nathan has been able to
create exceptional pieces of art.
robert Mills- Washington Monument
Robert Mills
Washington Monument
Marble, Granite, and bluestone gneiss
555’
5 1/8” X 55’ 1 ½”
Began 1848 and completed 1884
Robert mills was born August 12th 1781 and died March 3rd 1855. He is most well known as the architect who
constructed the Washington Monument.
After graduating at the College of Charleston
he moved to Washington DC.
At the age of 19 he started to work on the construction of the White House with
his friend and mentor John Hoban. During that time he met Thomas Jefferson, who
would go on to mentor Robert. Robert had also constructed many other buildings
around the DC area, including several churches, a prison, Department of
Treasury, and Washington Hall.
Tiffany Y. from Honolulu, Hawaii said this abut the
Washington Monument; “I tell you, as we walked down the National Mall and
seeing the Washington Monument was so impressive because of it's height with
the flags surrounding it. I haven't seen it during the evening and looking
forward to next week when I do!”
The Washington Monument
was created to commemorate George Washington, who was our first president and
commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The monument remains the tallest
stone structure in the world. Construction began in 1848 and didn’t get
competed until 1884. It took so long to complete because of the lack of funds
and the interruption of the Civil War. The monument was damaged in an
earthquake in 2011, and isn’t due to open until 2014.
I chose the Washington
Monument, because it is a simple
structure, yet it holds great historical significance. The monument is known by
most people, despite its simplicity, it is an American icon.
Frank Owen Gehry- 8 Sruce St.
Frank Owen Gehry
8 Spruce St.
Mainly concrete, iron, stainless steel, brick and glass
870’
tall, 76 story sky scraper
Completed February 2011
Frank was born Frank Owen Goldberg. He was born in Toronto,
Ontario on February 28th 1929. He started out as a child building
cities out of scraps of wood. In 1947 he moved to California
and started to attend Los Angeles City
College, and eventually graduated
from University of California’s
School of Architecture.
Architectural critic Nicolai Ouroussoff called it "the finest
skyscraper to rise in New York
since Eero
Saarinen’s CBS building went up 46 years ago".
The building is located in lower Manhattan,
New York. It serves as a school, Space for
a hospital, retail, and luxury rentals. It is the 12th tallest residential
building in the world, and the second tallest in the Western
Hemisphere.
I chose to include this sky scraper because I think that it
is phenomenal that buildings can be built in this magnitude. The building has a
sense of beauty to it.
Patrick St. Germain- warm Gradients
Patrick St. Germain
Warm Gradients
Oil paint on canvas
60”x30”
Originally created in 2011, can currently be purchaced and
recreated by hand.
Patrick graduated from Concordia
University in Montreal
with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. He is now the head of Ren-Wil’s art
studio in Lasalle, Montreal; which
has been around for just over 45 years.
Captontony from the website Kaboodle said this about Patrick’s
piece of art, “I FOUND IT!!!! I too have been looking all over for this piece.
I love it and FINALLY found it again”
The painting was
created by using warm tones or gray, blue, and orange. It was originally
painted in 2011, and can now be ordered online to be recreated using the same
products, oil based paint on a hand wrapped canvas.
I chose this piece because I was attracted to the color
scheme. I like that it looks like it is made of small cubes, but it is actually
the way that the paint was put onto the canvas.
Nicholas Foo- Whale
Nicholas Foo
Whale
Lego Blocks
1.2m x 1.8m
March 2011
Nicholas Foo is the only Asian based Lego certified
professional. He crates individual pieces of work for all types of clients. He
also creates pieces to for trade shows and charity events.
Nicholas had this to say about whale; “This is surely one
the more quirky murals
I've done so far. The sketching and dot inking process from photo collages was quite tricky in some areas but I'm glad of the final results.”
I've done so far. The sketching and dot inking process from photo collages was quite tricky in some areas but I'm glad of the final results.”
Whale was created along with two other murals; all were
mounted at three different bus stops around Singapore.
When viewed from the front, the murals all blended in to their backgrounds.
Each mural took over 97,000 pieces to create.
Sol LeWill- Four-sided Pyramid
Sol LeWitt
Four-Sided Pyramid
Concrete and Mortar
15’
3/8”× 33’ ½”× 31’ 10 ¼”
1965
Sol LeWitt was born September
9th 1928 in Hartford, Connecticut
and died in New York, New York
April 8th 2007 at the age of
78. He acquired his training from Syracuse
University, school of the fine
arts. Sol also taught at many New York
schools including New York University
and the school of visual arts.
The Columbia Encyclopedia says “Reflecting his study of
mathematics, Lewitt reduced the contents of his art to the most basic shapes,
colors, and lines, creating modular cubes and grid structures, geometric “wall
drawings,” and serial graphics”.
The plans for Four-Sided Pyramid were created by Sol in
1965. It wasn’t until 1999 that the structure itself was completed in the
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington
DC. The structure looks very different from
all angles, depending on where your viewpoint is.
I chose to use to use Four-Sided Pyramid because of its
geometric aspects. I also feel that it is very appealing to the eye. It is also
different how the structure looks different from all angles even when it is all
made the same way.
Sean Kenney- Polar Bear
Sean Kenney
Polar Bear
Lego Bricks
110" x 70" x 65"
4/10/2010
Sean was born August
22, 1976. As a child he took up an interest in cartooning and
became a published cartoonist at the age of 18. He later attended Rutgers
University and studied computer
science, philosophy, and computer science. At the age of 27 he started to
create pieces of art made from Lego’s professionally. He has his creations
being shown all over the world. He is also an established and published author
of five different books.
When Sean was describing how he wanted to portray the polar
bear this is what he said;” Since he is stuck on an ice floe and his species is
endangered, I wanted him to look a little frustrated, a little sad, a little
confused, and overall concerned about the predicament he is in.”
The “polar Bear” was created with 95,000 Lego Blocks and
took over 1100 hours to construct. It was amazingly finished in only two weeks.
Two of those days were spent on the facial expression, taking great care that
he wouldn’t look too cartoonish, rather so that he had a humanistic look to
him.
I chose this creation because, not only was it built with
blocks and is absolutely amazing, polar bears are stunning creatures.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Kumi Yamashita- City View
Kumi Yamashita
City View
Aluminum numbers with a single light source shadow
250cmx500cmx5cm
2003
Kumi Yamashita was born in Japan,
and no currently lives and resides in New York City,
New York. He attended Glasgow School of Art
in Glasgow, UK
achieving a Masters in fine art. In 1999 and in 1994 he attended Cornish
College of the Arts in Washington
and earned a bachelor in fine art degree. He has achieved many awards in the US
and Japan
ranging from 1993 until 2003. He has also had many select single shows around
the world from 1997 until 2003. Starting in 1999, he has had many select group
and special projects up to this current year.
When Kumi was asked why he used light to create his work he
responded by saying “Because light is beautiful. I love to see the solidness/
weight of materials and the ungraspable/ weightlessness of the light and shadow
in my work”.
The piece of art, City View, is being displayed in a 30
story office building in Osaka Japan.
The Shadow of the woman is overlooking a balcony on the second floor of the building;
as though she is watching the people on the first floor go by.
I chose this piece of art because I felt that it fit in
well. Kumi was able to use simple letter blocks and light to create a piece of
art that is out of the ordinary. By using two simple matters, he was able to
create a piece of art that gets my mind wondering. It is amazing that he can
create elaborate shadows just by the placement of blocks.
Conclusion
While organizing an exhibition I learned that there are many
challenges to be faced. It is quite difficult to find all of the information
that needs to be provided such as the dimensions, or statements on the work. I
did find that it was fun to find pieces to include, however the information to
go with it was difficult to find. I also discovered that all of the artists I
have selected had all attended some sort of schooling, which is proof that an
education is very important if you want to take your work to the next level. I
found that with the category that I selected there were quite a few people with
architectural degrees or backgrounds as well.
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