Silent Knight, 2015

Ekow Nimako - Toronto, Ontario

Sculpture

Sculpted with more than 50,000 LEGO® pieces, Silent Knight is visual artist Ekow Nimako's monumental tribute to one of the most admired and extirpated animal species in Ontario: the barn owl.

The stark white, larger-than-life sculpture captures the beauty and stealth of this exquisite bird like it has never been seen before. Relying on the seemingly infinite variations of sloped and angled LEGO® pieces, Nimako masterfully animates the inanimate, breathing a unique quality of life into the popular plastic medium.

The outdoor platform of the Gardiner Museum sets the stage for Silent Knight, simultaneously forging the tactile link between ceramics and LEGO®, while animal extinction for human gain remains a significant concept that "will also be explored in the museum's exhibition Kent Monkman: The Rise and Fall of Civilization opening on October 15, 2015."
 
"I've always admired barn owls as silent-winged keepers of the night – unique in their helmed visage even among other owls, yet for years they have been endangered in Ontario due to urbanization and loss of habitat. So if I can add them to the collective memory of the masses for even one night, it may cause a shift in consciousness to help draw these magical creatures back from the brink of local nonexistence." – Ekow Nimako

Ekow Nimako was born in Montreal, Canada and studied Fine Arts at York University in Toronto. An avid builder since childhood, Ekow's first LEGO® installation, AVIARAGEDDON, depicted over thirty species of weaponized birds in flight as a commentary on war culture and its link to species endangerment. His current exhibition, BUILDING BLACK, investigates the complexities of black identity with artworks that draw from various racial, historical, and folkloric narratives. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Learn More

www.ekownimako.com

40

Gardiner Museum (Outdoor Platform)

111 Queen's Park (The main entrance to the Museum is accessible from street level (Queen’s Park) via a ramp on the south side of the building, through the University of Victoria Annesley Hall parking lot.)

This project is outdoors.