Mike Leavitt’s Art Army Action Figures parody art world elitism.

Upon first glance, Mike Leavitt’s series of Art Army Action Figures looks like what we’d expect to find in the toy aisle of a big-box store like Target. But there’s more than meets the eye. Leavitt’s “toys” feature representations of contemporary artists like Chuck Close, Matthew Barney, Takashi Murakami, and more – many of whom aisle 12 shoppers might not even recognize.

Takashi Murakami

Mike Leavitt says of his Art Army Action Figures:

“I’m fully interested in comics and toys. That’s exactly why I started the Art Army, out of a love for superheroes and action figures. It runs deep from my childhood. This project has been an immensely satisfying way to document the cultural and personal influences that have formed me since I was a kid. I guess someday, I’ll have to grow up, but for now, it’s pretty great to still be a Toys R Us kid.”

Leavitt makes his interactive sculptures out of polymer clay and mixed media. The majority of color is created by mixing pigmented clay, as opposed to using paint. Sadly, it’s very limited in that only ten of each are being made.

Barbara Kruger

Part of the point, too, is to parody art world elitism, which is both notorious and rampant. It is a chosen few who are talented and connected enough to make it in the highly rarified air of the contemporary art scene.

“I think the contemporary art world’s mystification of the artist has been a sad fallout from too many wrong-doings for too many years,” Leavitt said. “I understand that much of it is necessary to build up a mythology and market value for an artist’s work. But there’s a balance to strike between the economics and wider mass appeal for the art world.”

All of which makes Leavitt’s satirical figures even more appealing to those who recognize these characters. Plus, who doesn’t love seeing Jeff Koons personified in pink penises with Cindy Sherman standing by with her camera?

Jeff Koons

Kara Walker

Jasper Johns

Accessories are included, though removable.

Chuck Close

Matthew Barney

Mike Leavitt’s exhibition at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery runs through October 8, 2011. In the meantime, check out this video of Leavitt’s sculpture of art world bad-boy Damien Hirst.

Images via artinfo.com & courtesy Michael Leavitt and Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Top image of Cindy Sherman

Eco, trends, art, creativity and how they tumble through social media to shape culture fascinate EcoSalon columnist Dominique Pacheco. Her personal blog, mixingreality, speaks to these topics daily, and here at EcoSalon, she takes a weekly look at the intersection of eco and art. We call it heARTbeat.

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