Someone posted Tim Biskup's action figure on notcot.org and I've been fascinated by the whole Art Army project. In 2002 artist and sculptor Michael Leavitt decided to create action figures of his favorite artists, like Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol... since then he's been covering the current art scene including low-brow painters, urban toy designers and grafitti artists.

The Art Army® action figures are homages to the killer art and artists that rock our world. Instead of making boring normal art, Leavitt is paying tribute to great people and work. This is no customization hobby, and it also ain't some profound artistic statement. The one-off figures are each original, fully posable mini sculptures engineered for major articulation. They look like real toys, but no Art Army® figure is machine manufactured. These action figures don't fit in any molds. Each is sculpted from scratch as one artists' offering to an icon.

Left to right, top to bottom: Tim Biskup, Lori Earley, Gary Baseman, Lola, Ron English and Sas Christian. You can see the action figures in more details after the break.

[via NotCot.org]

The Secret Story of the Art Army

The art army® has spawned to battle the utter stupidity, fear, and greed of really bad taste. Conceived in a bout of ambiguity over what art to make, artcard®mike, as his alter ego super artman, created the army with subconscious instructions from art gods who eventually took form as army members. As artcard®mike's own art wasn't enough for the world's pain and ugliness, the art army® isn't enough to defeat its arch enemy: The Man. The army's guru soon spirals into the dark blue depths of sadness and bittersweet reminiscence. His art super heroes resort to guerilla tactics, and The Man's endless existence is unfazed by the army's silly art showings, his looming ever-presence threatening the future of the art army®.