Lego’s new building kit will turn your wall into an ode to ’80s graffiti art.
The latest in Lego’s art-inspired sets is a customizable brick-built version of Keith Haring’s dancing figures, an instantly recognizable motif of five breakdancing stick figures articulated in Haring’s iconic pop art style. The kit comes with 1,773 pieces, can be mounted on stands or affixed to a wall, and stands at just over a foot tall. It retails for $119.99 and is set to hit Lego’s website and land in stores on May 15.
In recent months, Lego has been working to build out a more extensive catalog of eye candy kits aimed at adults, ranging from a Lego-based version of Leonadro da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to a detailed re-creation of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and even a modern version of Art Hokusai’s 1831 woodblock print The Great Wave. The Dancing Figures kit is one of Lego’s first forays into a more contemporary artist’s work, and it’s also the company’s first art kit that’s specifically designed to be configured by a group.
Designing dancing figures for Lego
The Dancing Figures kit might be one of the most modern motifs to join Lego’s art repertoire, but somehow the characters’ new life as a Lego set feels inevitable. That’s probably because since Haring’s death in 1990, his art has appeared on everything from chess sets to Dr. Martens and inflatable home decor.
During the height of his career in 1980s New York City, Haring’s greatest love was street art and graffiti, and he famously preferred to make art that would be viewable by the masses rather than tucked inside a gallery. He also arguably spearheaded the commodification of his own work through a merch outlet called Haring’s Pop Shop, which sold buttons, stickers, and posters for ultra-low prices. At the time, he faced a healthy dose of backlash from the fine art world for reproducing his own art commercially. Since then, though, his work has become so ubiquitous that echoes of it persist in fashion design, graffiti, and the same gallery spaces that once criticized him.
Milan Madge, master model designer at Lego, led the design of the new Dancing Figures kit. Madge says his team worked in collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation to bring the motif to life, including by accessing archival materials held by the foundation to “stay true to his unique style.”
“Getting to choose Keith Haring’s Dancing Figures was a wonderful choice to have,” Madge says. “The original piece perfectly captures the spirit of joy, motion, and connection that defines much of his work. The energetic, rhythmic forms express a sense of celebration and unity, radiating a vibrant, lively energy. Using Lego bricks as a medium was also a great fit, and it presented a fun challenge to see if we could replicate the fine lines of the original artwork within the Lego brick format.”
In many ways, the colorful, playful style of both Haring and Lego made this the ideal collaboration. Still, meshing the two presented some design quandaries—namely, how to capture the dynamic movement of Haring’s oft-depicted dancing figures in a kit that follows a precise structure and relies on a selection of base shapes. Ultimately, the Lego team decided to lean into the “hidden geometry” that underpins the Lego brick.
“The big leap we took was removing the background from the characters and making them freestanding sculptures. That really unlocked the potential of the Lego system in terms of geometry,” Madge says. “In order to capture the dynamism of Haring’s work, we started angling parts of the model, a figure’s arm or leg, or in the case of the blue breakdancing figure, their entire lower body. The angles allowed us to both capture the forms of Keith Haring’s dancing figures and, importantly, the consistent bold black line which was a staple of his style.”
Adult book clubs and crafting circles, rejoice!
The actual format of Lego’s Dancing Figures kit is also meant as an homage to Haring’s style. Whereas most Lego art sets are sequential and require every step to be performed in a specific order, the lively characters in this set stand on their own and come with five individual instruction booklets, meaning it’s easy to complete the set in a group without squabbling over a shared manual.
“Each figure can be arranged in different ways, fostering creativity and individual expression, much like street art,” Madge says. “This approach gives people more options for showcasing their art, almost like graffiti.”
Based on Lego’s product shots for the kit, it’s pretty clear who the company is marketing this set to: twentysomethings and thirtysomethings with plenty of Lego nostalgia, a bit of their own cash to burn, and an eclectic apartment to decorate.