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Exhibitionists·Video

This sculpture of an owl took 50,000 pieces of Lego

Canada's own Ekow Nimako is one of the generation of artists who grew up on Lego, and his recent sculpture Silent Knight created for Nuit Blanche proves he's mastered the medium in his own edgy and completely unique way.

Ekow Nimako's barn owl 'Silent Knight' was made for Toronto's Nuit Blanche

Sarah Keenlyside · CBC Arts ·

Ekow Nimako's 50,000 Lego-piece sculpture

9 years ago
Duration 4:34
In this clip, the Toronto artist and his most ambitious sculpture to date are facing moving day and some very careful handling.

Ekow Nimako is part of the generation of artists who grew up on Lego, and his recent sculpture Silent Knight created for Nuit Blanche proves he's mastered the medium in his own edgy and completely unique way.

The little plastic blocks made by Lego since 1949 have built everything from simple houses to recreations of the sets from Star Wars and Harry Potter. But they're not just toys essential to a happy childhood: they've become artist's materials. Right now, you can dump Lego into the sunroof of a car parked near Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario for notorious Chinese artist Ai Weiwei; and The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia just opened their exhibition The Art of the Brick: DC Comics — in a city, by the way, that hosted celebrated artist Olafur Eliasson's monumental Lego project only a few years ago.

In this video, Nimako takes you through the final move of his massive sculpture of an endangered barn owl made from 50,000 white Lego bricks.

Watch Exhibitionists Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.

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