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Warsaw art museum buys Zbigniew Libera’s ‘LEGO’ concentration camp
(Jan. 3, 2012 LA Times update of a old report)
Some controversial artworks never completely lose the taint of the taboo despite
changing times and evolving tastes. When Polish artist Zbigniew Libera created a
faux LEGO concentration camp toy set in 1996, he drew widespread criticism from
people who believed he was making light of the Holocaust. Since then, his
death-camp toys have been shown in museums and galleries around the world,
including New York’s Jewish Museum in the 2002 exhibition “Mirroring Evil.”
This week, the Museum of Modern Art in
Warsaw, Poland, announced on its website that it has acquired Libera’s
concentration camp creations. The museum said it purchased the artwork on Dec.
30 from a Norwegian art collector for 55,000 euros, or approximately $71,800.
The museum described the pieces as “one of the most important works of
contemporary Polish art.”
The work features LEGO renderings of crematoria and barracks as well as scenes
depicting skeletal prisoners being beaten by guards.
A 1997 report
in The Times stated that the creations were so disturbing that the Lego Group
tried to persuade Libera to withdraw them from public view. (The company
eventually backed down from its demands.)
“I understand that Lego must defend its good name, but this is not a product
being offered in a store,” Libera told The Times. The artwork caused additional
controversy when Libera was invited to participate in the 1997 Venice Biennale,
but was asked by Polish officials to not show the Lego pieces. “This is
censorship all over again,” the artist told The Times. “I created this work to
inspire discussion, not to suppress it.”
Born in 1959, Libera is one of the most provocative Polish artists currently
working. His other works include ironic and sometimes darkly humorous
deconstructions of children’s toys and mass-produced consumer goods.
LAtimes.com
Link from the 1997 Article
An Artist’s
Volatile Toy Story
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