Everything You Need To Know This Week On New York's Art Scene

Nathan Sawaya and Dean West, In Pieces

[Photos via] In Pieces, which opens today, is a collaborative works project by sculptor Nathan Sawaya and hyper-real photographer Dean West. The project is a series of compositions which explore the notion of identity in the American landscape. The photos were all staged and shot by West using "modern photography techniques." Sawaya added objects he sculpted out of Lego blocks in order to resemble seemingly ordinary and extraordinary objects found in the photographs such as flip flops or a cloud in the sky. The ability of Sawaya's creations to blend almost flawlessly into the photos (unless closely inspected) speaks of the artistic duo's masterful technique and brings attention to their artists' statement: the notion of identity as nothing more than a "cultural creation [that] has been heavily commercialized and manipulated," leaving the viewer's sense of self, in pieces. Date: March 13- March 17th Location: Openhouse Gallery, 201 Mulberry St