Brick Artist Nathan Sawaya to showcase his iconic LEGO(R) art at San Diego Comic-Con for a Cause

Sawaya donates in-action live build and artwork to fight hunger in Africa on Friday, July 13 from 11a.m. to 4 p.m.

Renowned LEGO brick artist Nathan Sawaya is teaming up with legendary comic book artist Jim Lee at Comic-Con for a super hero-inspired art exhibition as part of Darkness & Light: Art Inspired by Heroes & Villains, Hope & Heroism, a one-of-a-kind art and education tour benefitting DC Entertainment’s We Can Be Heroes giving campaign to raise awareness and funds for the worst hunger crisis in 60 years in the Horn of Africa.

The exhibition showcases almost 100 pieces of original artwork featuring the Justice League characters – such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman – from a wide variety of contemporary artists that will be on display and open to the public at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Art Gallery in San Diego Monday, July 9 through Sunday, July 15th, opening at 9 a.m. daily.

The centerpiece of the collection, titled Batman: Justice, is a stunning large-scale painting created by Jim Lee exclusively for Darkness & Light and features the profile of Batman in an Africa-inspired color palette of yellow, green, red and black.

On Friday, July 13 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sawaya will be on hand to build a vibrant recreation of Lee’s Batman portrait using standard LEGO bricks. Sawaya is donating his time and the final artwork to benefit We Can Be Heroes. The weeklong Darkness & Light exhibition as well as Sawaya’s live art installation are free to the public  and a Comic-Con badge is NOT necessary for admission to the gallery.

Sawaya is the foremost contemporary artist working with LEGO bricks as an art medium.  He fine-tuned his craft of creating awe-inspiring and large scale sculptures out of LEGO after walking away from a successful career as a New York corporate lawyer. Sawaya’s art primarily takes shape in three-dimensional sculptures and oversized portraits and his extensive collections continue to break attendance records around the world with The Art of the Brick exhibitions currently in Taiwan, Australia and Florida.

As part of his contribution to the We Can Be Heroes campaign, Sawaya created and donated a life-size Catwoman sculpture. Titled Catalyst, the sculpture is scheduled to tour with the rest of the Darkness & Light collection across the nation. At the end of the exhibition tour, DC Entertainment will auction off the art with all net proceeds going directly to saving lives.

“There are really no other art forms quite as fun as comics and LEGO.  It is an absolute delight and honor to have brought these two creative mediums together in this one art collection,” said Brian Deputy, Vice President of Creative Worldwide for Warner Bros. Consumer Products and curator of the Darkness & Light art exhibition.  “Jim obviously connected deeply with the subject matter in his oversized Batman portrait and I simply cannot wait to see how Nathan interprets the piece using his signature medium of choice.”

About Darkness & Light: Art Inspired by Heroes & Villains, Hope & Heroism

The art exhibition is a one-of-a-kind art and education tour to raise awareness and funds for the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa. The unique pairing of comic-inspired art with photography from the Horn of Africa shows visitors what is possible when we tap into our own super hero qualities of responsibility, willpower and inner strength to be of service to people in need. Darkness & Light is a signature initiative of We Can Be Heroes, a giving campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for the worst hunger crisis in 60 years that is taking place in the Horn of Africa, where more than 8 million people are in need of immediate assistance.  Darkness & Light tells the story of the crisis through the lens of those working tirelessly to help the people of the Horn of Africa fight the hunger crisis. On display for one week only, this is an exhibit you and your family won’t want to miss!

About Nathan Sawaya

Nathan Sawaya is an independent New York-based, award-winning artist who creates awe-inspiring 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. Today Sawaya has more than 1.5 million colored bricks in his New York art studio. For more information on Nathan Sawaya and The Art of the Brick, visit www.brickartist.com.

What: Nathan Sawaya Live LEGO Build Event and Art Installation

Where: Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts, 363 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101 

When: Friday, July 13, 2012 – 11 a. m. to 4 p.m.