Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Southbank, London, until September

Artist Nathan Sawaya returns to London with the world’s largest LEGO Exhibition, this time inspired by the Justice League and their enemies. For comic book fans, aficionados of the Danish construction brick, or those who can appreciate modern art, it’s a great way to spend 90 minutes in the capital…

Genre fans visiting London this summer are very well served. The Star Wars Identities exhibit at the O2 is a must-see, and now there’s a semi-permanent exhibition in an industrial-sized marquee behind the National Theatre and based on DC’s finest. Boasting over 120 works of art (and name no mistake, they are art), over two million LEGO bricks have been employed to create this comic book brick nirvana.

The artist, Nathan Sawaya, took time out to speak to us about his craft (click here to read the interview) but what of the exhibition itself? Sci-Fi Bulletin was lucky enough to preview the exhibit prior to the opening on March 1.

You can’t miss the marquee housing the exhibition – it’s across the road from the back of the BFI and the National Theatre, and a brisk five minute walk from Waterloo train station. Plastered in comic book art, it’s a colourful addition to the Southbank. After a five minute intro video from Sawaya, you get to see Yellow, the artist’s most famous piece – a bust that’s literally ripping itself apart and letting bricks spew out. Next to it is a short commentary about the piece and anecdotal context to support the inspiration. This, in addition to a listing of dimensions and number of bricks used is present across the whole venue – fans want the detail, and they get it.

The collection is divided up into themed rooms, beginning with World of DC Comics, featuring in its centre an amphitheatre-style display arena of 30 characters as well as mock-ups of the covers of The Brave and the Bold no 28 and Action Comics number 1. What’s impressive is side display Origins which has seven cylinders filled with different coloured layers of bricks and you can immediately recognise which Justice League character each relates to, such is the iconic nature of their costumes. I won’t go though every single piece – that’s the job of the lavish show catalogue – and some things you want to discover yourself.

The Icons section takes the Justice League heroes and features each in their own real-world diorama (i.e. not LEGO) but constructed from a single colour. So we get Wonder Woman: Dark Blue, Batman: Dark Grey, Green Lantern: Orange (OK, it was Green), Superman: Blue, etc. Instead of the single colour limiting the design it reinforces the 3D nature of the sculpts and lets the excellent spotlights draw out the detail. Again, the references to construction techniques and childhood inspiration add a further layer of personalisation by the artist. Obviously there’s no touching – kids can express themselves in the play area at the end – but nothing is behind glass, thus there’s no barrier between you and the art.

Fortress of Solitude is devoted to the Man of Steel,  with Superman Streak and Pushing offering very different takes on the last son of Brickton… Krypton!  Soaring is a wonderful suspended piece of Supes in full flight, a vapour trail of red bricks breaking away from his cape, while Angel swaps the iconic cape for feathered wings.

Constructing a Hero features the Justice League in cubed form, with Hero Within being  an inspirational testament to the latent superhero inside all of us. Themyscira has Diana Prince in a Lichtenstein-inspired dress, while there’s also some columns and a statue of the Amazonian Warrior. The Invisible Jet made from see-through bricks is a wonderful construct, only being visible as certain angles.

DC Light features Oswald Cobblepot as a Club Penguin caricature, and this fun selection also has Aquaman reimagined as an octopus (an Aquapus no less!), Krypto the flying pup, and Aquaman in the bath tub. My personal highlight is the recreation of the 1960s TV Futura Batmobile, a stunning creation with detail including the fire extinguisher and red phone.

And the flip side of DC Light is DC Dark, another personal highlight being the 8,000 brick recreation of Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke cover, with Joker grinning inanely behind a camera. Elsewhere, Perched had Selena Kyle ready to spring from a rooftop, and there are the parched skulls of Brainiac, Sinestro, Bane, Deathstroke and Joker

The Hall of justice treats each JLA hero to a giant mock-up of a significant comic book next to a giant bust, and then we go to Gotham. This is where the black bricks really get a workout with a life size bat signal, a living textured shadow – The Darkest Knight – living textured shadow and Building batman, a creation that is literally built himself.

Duck your head through a tunnel and you’re into the Batcave and in the presence of the exhibition’s crowning glory, a full-size Batmobile designed by comics legend Jim Lee. This solid construct, over five metres long and built from half a million bricks is replete with exhaust flame and glaring headlights, is as heavy as a real car and a wonderful finale to the show.

You exit through the obligatory gift shop where you can pick up Batpacks, notebooks, folders, figures, T-shirts and other bat merch, though strangely no LEGO Batman Movie sets.

Verdict: It’s either great timing or deliberate planning that this LEGO exhibition is running at a time when The LEGO Batman Movie and Justice League are in the media. But this is no tie-in, it’s an experience that elevates the plastic brick to an art medium. Don’t miss the chance to witness the work of a real life master builder whose creations are… awesome! 10/10

Tickets can be bought from http://www.aotbdc.co.uk and if you go on a Monday they only cost £10 each.

For more information about Nathan Sawaya and his artwork, visit http://www.nathansawaya.com. For more information about The Art of the Brick, visit http://www.brickartist.com.

Superman landscape photo by Dominic Lonergan, used with permission