A LEGO EXHIBITION--
At the McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach, FL

We are lucky, indeed, playing with Lego bricks as a child continued into the present day for Sean Kenney who is now one of only 14 LEGO, Certified Professional artists in the US.

"As an adult with a desk job, Kenney would come home, loosen his tie and play with his LEGO bricks.  One day, he literally hung up his tie, left the office and devoted his life to merging his interest in the visual arts with his love of LEGO toys," the exhibition brochure explains.

The humming bird and flower above were created by hand-gluing 31,565 pieces over an internal structure of steel rods and plates which provide support for the large works.  This piece is 64" x 32" by 77".

Surrounding the support structure, each sculpture is constructed entirely from LEGO bricks.  For this exhibit Kenney and his team used  four gallons of glue.  The rose contains more than 41,000 pieces and is 30" x 30" x 82" tall on its green stem.

The American Bumblebee contains 16,300 plus pieces and "flies" in the exhibit area while suspended on a stout, wire cable.  In addition to glue an organic welding agent is used to connect the components, like wings, legs, etc.  The agent liquefies the joining surfaces allowing them to bond and solidify changing the pieces into one continuous solid.

Kenney uses only the basic, rectangular and flat LEGO bricks for the sculptures and only in readily available colors.  With few exceptions there are no special colors or shapes.  He often works with architecture and drafting software in his artistic process.

The lawn mower is made with 13,700+ pieces while Mother bison (below) contains 45,143 pieces while her calf has but 16,229.  Momma is just over 4 feet tall at her shoulders.

For those of you in the area, the exhibit will continue through April 12, 2015.  For those of you in the more polar latitudes--sorry!