Once upon a time a nameless white bear emerged and took on many shapes and personas. He's transformed into a rabbit, been beheaded, shrunken to pocket-size (Hung), become a super-hero and sometimes seen only as a cute lil' hairless teddy bear. And now, emerging from the LA-based shop Munky King is the latest from artist Luke Chueh.........introducing TARGET. They have been relentless in bringing forth some of the best in the vinyl figure biz to date this year - and this piece does not disappoint in the slightest. The piece was based on this work from over a decade back.
Packed really well inside a simple brown box with Chueh's original painting emblazoned on its cover, the figure and its accessories are nicely separated from the super solid (and heavy) resin backdrop - a concrete, bullet-ridden wall (10 1/2" tall and kinda reminiscent of a setting for religious iconongraphy). The 6 1/2" figure fits perfectly into the setting with simple placement - no pegs, etc.
The figure could be posed with his paintbrush and bucket or solo. His gesture is set-up so he is actually painting a target on his own chest. It's a perfect nudge from the artist about how so many people are feeling in today's society (and maybe a jab at big box commerce while he's at it!!). I simply love the purity of the figure itself, and only wish you could pop the head off its shoulders and put it on the backdrop alongside his torso. If you notice there is a very fine gradation below his knees giving a wonderful allusion of depth.
The figure as seen from other angles shows the wonderful simplicity of form, its cottonball tail and wonderful swoop in the sculpt lines. The figure which is limited to only 1000 in its edition also comes in a few additional colorways, and other artist adaptations (Jason Freeny, David Zajman), many of which have sold out (check this page for details) since the figure was introduced a few years back.
Whether viewed as forlorn or stoic Chueh's bear has a certain iconic style that is all his own, minimal and versatile. This rotocast figure is stunning, and we hear there are others to follow in its wake in the not-so-distant-future (nudge: #SDCC15!). GOFN will be conducting an interview with Luke to appear later this month, and we are excited to hear form him as he has been inundated with wonderful upcoming exhibitions and other commissions.
From the details you can clearly see not only the artist's sense of humor and attention to detail, but the real care that Munky King has put into the overall presentation. They knew to use a color black to give the paint in the bucket a certain sheen and "viscosity" and it was nice to see how that was reflected on the action of the central character who was redesigning himself or making funny references to Jasper Johns, perhaps?
RATING
Sculpt: 9.5/10
Paint: 10/10
Design: 9/10
Packaging: 8.5/10
The artist as his own canvas? Get one now or forever hold your naked paintbrush.