Lego artist portrays Ed Sheeran live at Fries Museum

As part of the large exhibition Icons at the Fries Museum, Ernesto Lemke would work for two days in public on a Lego portrait of Ed Sheeran. Now he is doing it in silence.

The museum is deserted. There are not even any people in the office. Two security guards ensure that artist Ernesto Lemke and a few journalists do not do anything strange. Eduard Rekker is installing the camera that captures the creation process in a time lapse .

Lemke stands at the top of the large stairs leading to the exhibition Icons . In a corner by the window is his table, on which are three drawer units full of loose Lego bricks. From these, he is recreating the portrait of Ed Sheeran painted by Colin Davidson. "Davidson is enthusiastic, and he was able to tell that Ed really likes Lego," says communications officer Janke Vlas. The museum hopes that Sheeran himself will share their online messages.

Four copies of the portrait help Lemke analyze the construction of the face in tones. "Where is the blackest black and the whitest white..." He starts with the position of the eye and builds towards the second eye throughout Tuesday afternoon. A line of green circles runs over the bridge of the nose. For the base of the cheeks and forehead, he presses a few pink and beige pieces into place. Depth will follow later.

In two afternoons (Tuesday and Wednesday), the artist hopes to make progress, but he does not expect it to be completely finished by then. On Wednesday afternoon (1-3 PM), interested parties can follow the creation process via Instagram (@friesmuseum) and Facebook. The Leeuwarder Courant will report online again on Wednesday.

Omroep LEO Middelsé watched how the 'brick painter' went to work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRY-jsyCD6k

Gitte Brugman • December 28, 2021
PHOTO HOGE NOORDEN/JACOB VAN ESSEN