IKEA Art Event 2018 Designer Glass Figurines by Joe Ledbetter, Junko Mizuno, Michael Lau and More!

Today The Blot visited my local IKEA store to discover that the IKEA Art Event 2018 had hit Houston, Texas a few weeks earlier than advertised!!! The goal of this event is to “make art affordable for everyone while exploring the imaginative world connected to figurines.” For 2018’s Art event release, IKEA has teamed up with some of the biggest names in designer art toys – Joe Ledbetter, Junko Mizuno, Michael Lau, James Jarvis, Coarse, Nathan Jurevicius, Arkiv Vilmansa and Ludvig Löfgren – to create some amazing (and affordable) glass art figurines.

For the IKEA Art Event 2018, these eight artists were invited to the Målerås glass factory in southern Sweden to create contemporary glass figurines. Henrik Most, Creative Leader of this collection, explained, “we want to celebrate the amazing world of art collectibles and the imaginative universe connected to figurines, how they spark our fantasy, represent everyday and turn it upside down with fun and playfulness.”

While glass is a new material for many of the artists, IKEA was curious about how the different artists would apply their creativity, skill and knowledge to working with this unique substance. From a bunny to a, owl to fingers giving the peace sign, these detailed miniature glass sculptures have emerged from the imaginations of the contemporary urban artists. The IKEA Art Event 2018 will be available at all IKEA stores for a limited time for just $29.99 starting in April 2018 – but many stores already have these amazing designer glass figurines on store shelves now!

The IKEA Art Event 2018 Collection includes eight glass art multiples: a clear “Soul Toy” ghost by Michael Lau, a blue fox “Coarse” by Mark Landwehr and Sven Wasch, “Hira” by Arkiv Vilmansa, a green owl “Sutemos” by Nathan Jurevicius, the beautiful purple “Nocturnal” by Junko Mizuno, the “Evil Eye” by Ludvig Löfgren, a red “Bunny” by Joe Ledbetter, and a clear “Peace Sign” by James Jarvis.

Last Days of Autumn Vinyl Figure Set by Amanda Visell x Coarse

Coarse is teaming up with acclaimed artist Amanda Visell to release this super detailed Last Days of Autumn Vinyl Figure Set! This exciting collaboration between Coarse and Amanda Visell explores the power of humans over nature, touching on themes prevalent in both artists' bodies of work. Last Days of Autumn tells the story of the last minutes in the life of a log who surrenders to axe-wielding children.

Coarse will be releasing two colorways of Amanda Visell’s Last Days Of Autumn: The “Shiver” Edition ($384) is limited to 234 pieces and features an icy cold color scheme, while the “Frenzy” Edition ($384) is limited to 345 pieces and sports a color scheme of natural autumn colors. Each set includes the sad log 11.5” vinyl figure and four naive children (standing between 4.5”-6” tall) equipped with axes, along with tree parts and leaves to decorate the threatening scenery.

All pieces in the Last Days of Autumn Vinyl Figure Set by Amanda Visell are individually hand painted, and both editions will go on sale at 9:59am CST on November 3rd at the Coarse online store.

SDCC 13 Exclusive Omen Blink Vinyl Figure by Coarse

Coarse Toys has taken the amazing Omen design that they revealed at last year's Souls Gone Mad exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery and shrunk it down to a super cool 3.5" size and named it the Omen Blink. This exciting new vinyl figure’s first two colorways are Hoot and Hush. Here is their story: After the last rays of the sun dip behind the forest’s edge, two pairs of eyes burst open. Hoot and Hush warily stand together keeping watch over a nest of unhatched eggs. Gazing up into the night, they wait in silence until the voice of the Void breaks through the darkness and orders them where to go.

Each San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Omen Blink colroway has a limited edition run size of 800 pieces and will retail for just $14 exclusively at the Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi SDCC booth #5248.

The Ultimate Avengers Paw Custom Vinyl Figure by Sekure D

While The Blot isn’t really into Coarse Toys’ Paw vinyl figure, Sekure D absolutely killed this custom! The idea alone is just bananas, but it’s Sekure D’s execution that really makes this Ultimate Avengers Paw one of my all time favorite custom figures. The design itself is an amalgam of the costumes of the four primary members of Marvel’s The Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Incredible Hulk. I love how seamless the design looks. Sekure D took elements of each hero’s costume and combined them in such a way that makes it look natural. Just look at how Iron Man’s chest-mounted "uni-beam" looks perfect in the center of Cap’s star.

According to Sekure D, this custom “represents months of work; it might not [look] like the most intricate design to begin with but I can assure you this is probably the most labour intensive custom I have made to date, it was just ridiculously consuming. There is approximately 700 scales on the body of Captain America all of which have a drop shadow and then the green and reds I used were unfortunately horribly opaque. We did not fit all the Avengers in there and as you can probably tell I absolutely created a scale of importance with who I did use however this is how I felt the design could be best accomplished.”

Pretty insane work, right!?! To see more of this beautiful figure and other great customs head over to Sekure D’s Instagram account.

High & Dry Custom Coarse Jaws Vinyl Figure by Task One

Check out this amazing custom Coarse Jaws by Task One! Task constantly amazes me with his work, and this “High & Dry” custom Coarse Jaws vinyl figure is a classic example why. He always does a great job of turning a figure on its head (this time literally) and taking things to the next level.

Named after a Radiohead song, the title seemed kinda fitting considering what the custom depicts. Just read the definition of “High and Dry” if you don’t believe me: 1. Lit. [for water] to recede and leave someone untouched. The waters receded and left us high and dry. 2. Fig. to leave someone unsupported and unable to maneuver; to leave someone helpless.

This particular custom figure was a commission for a Kidrobot boardie, so don’t go looking to pick this one up from Task’s online store. But don’t worry, he’ll have more custom figures coming soon!