When your art takes off, so do your costs — like 100,000+ LEGO pieces

Описание: Art, Death & Taxes unpacks the art world's greatest taboo: money. Nine acclaimed artists explore the economics of their practice, peeling back the curtain on all the work that goes into the work.

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Toronto LEGO artist Ekow Nimako has been a fixture on CBC Arts over the years, and Art, Death & Taxes caught up with him as he was in the midst of working on a massive new project — both physically massive and a career milestone for the artist. We meet the artist as he works on Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE, a piece he built as part of the Aga Khan Museum’s “Building Black: Civilizations” that uses over 100,000 LEGO pieces. Nimako has been experiencing a surge in his career, but with a levelling up comes new challenges.

“As you start moving up in your career and dollars start coming in, you gotta know how to handle it,” he says. “You’ll be shocked how quickly money can evaporate. There’s tons of stories of people that were successful and talented and skilled and ended up broke. You think with success and wealth particularly that it doesn’t require maintenance. ‘Oh, I made it; oh, I cashed in a giant cheque, I’m good.’ That’s far from the truth.”

“Your income goes up, your expenses go up.”
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