Dano Brown Kitbashes “Pop-Culture Sculptures” For Gallery 1988 [Los Angeles]
Check out 21 original unorthodox action figures Frankensteined together by the Victorville, CA artist
“Kitbashing” toys or models together is a process that has been employed for decades with filmmakers often taking commercial toys and combining them with others and/or incorporating custom alterations that result in the creation of something entirely new. If you already have the basic framework available in a vehicle from a model kit or a product from a toy company like Mattel, it can save a lot more time and money building from that foundation than casting a new one entirely from scratch. But sometimes the motivation is slightly different than constructing a space vehicle to be used in the background of some science-fiction film. Sometimes, when you can’t find a product that you wish existed, you just have to make it yourself. This type of thinking has lead to a boom in bootleg action figures, a discipline that has spawned its own subculture that draws from various different worlds and references, while never quite fitting into any particular category itself. Does gluing piece from a Voltron toy to a Masters Of The Universe figure constitute art? Well… I guess that depends on who you’re asking and, just as importantly, what they’ve actually accomplished through it. If you enjoy the end result, then an even more important question might be “who really gives a shit, anyway?”
Artists like Sucklord and Killer Bootlegs have been at the forefront of the custom action figure world, primarily focusing on the 3 3/4-inch scale figures popularized through Kenner‘s original Star Wars toy line and later through the 1980s resurrection of G.I. Joe. While both of those artists are known for creating original characters, along with parodies and mashup work, they’ve also worked individually to create figures for the comic-themed hip hop supergroup, Czarface (DJL7, Esoteric, & Inspectah Deck) among others. Meanwhile, the company Super 7 has gone on to actually lock down official partnerships with brands to resurrect old toy lines and produce pop culture figures that have never previously existed. But while there is now some foundation and history for this type of work and the popularity has grown, it’s still a fairly small club, as far as people successfully making these things on a quality level. Over the last couple of years, Victorville, Ca based artist, Dano Brown, has swiftly climbed up the ranks to make his mark.
From what we’ve seen, Brown isn’t really casting new components for his creations, but rather focusing on the “Frankensteining” of different figures together, doing repaints, and things of that nature, for his experiments. He’s also not focused on creating new characters. Although he’s taken commissions from people who want tiny plastic renderings of loved ones like their dads, his primary focus is on crafting figures that companies like Hasbro would never touch. These are unlicensed products pulling from pop culture like videogames, cult films, and memes; often, the more obscure and/or hyper-specific the reference, the better.
A massive fan of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, Brown has a shed at his home set up with the classic gaming console and decorated with associated memorabilia and art. Apparently, after Dan Polydoris (aka Death By Toys) purchased some patches that Brown had made and tagged him in a post, it prompted him to check out the Death By Toys IG page and notice a Mega Man figure that he was selling. As someone who’d been looking for this exact type of product to add to his gaming shed decor, Dano was intrigued and soon discovered that Polydoris was making this stuff himself. After picking some items up from him, Brown began to believe that he could do something similar. Polydoris — who not only makes one-of-a-kind custom figures, but has also managed to do some select officially licensed limited edition toy releases — was generous with his knowledge, giving Brown some tips on how to get his own setup started. Brown counts his first real creation as a figure of Little Mac from the game Mike Tyson’s Punchout!!! If you check out his 8-bit Tyson “I Will Eat Your Children” patches or the related shirts in his Threadless shop, it’s clear that this type of content was already firmly situated within his wheelhouse shed. His history with photoshop and design has also proven an invaluable asset when it comes to designing the backing cards for the blister packs, an aspect that has become just as vital as the toys themselves within the custom toy art scene.
The gaming world has continued to be be soundly represented in Brown‘s work with characters from the games Paperboy, Burgertime, and Kid Icarus all being made, as well as related characters from TV and film like Captain N The Gamemaster and the Powerglove sporting hotshot, Lucas Barton, from the 1989 Fred Savage/Jenny Lewis movie, The Wizard. Some other standout pieces have been a legless Lieutenant Dan (Forest Gump), Navin R Johnson (The Jerk), Theodore Donald “Donnie” Karabozoz‘s cremated ashes in a Folger’s Coffee can (The Big Lebowski), and Norm McDonald as Burt Reynolds as “Turd Ferguson” on Jeopardy on SNL. It’s that out of the box thinking that has earned the mad toy scientist a following and how we, ourselves, became followers of his instagram account, alongside more than 41k others. Dano will typically throw a new figure up on his ebay account once a week and, although he starts the bidding at 99 cents, it’s not uncommon for his pieces to fetch several hundred dollars, if not $1,000 or more.
Last night, Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles opened a brand new group exhibit titled Pop Culture Sculptures that included the toymaker and features 21 of his works showcased on their walls. Here’s a video that the artist created of himself preparing for the big night.
In a previous tongue-in-cheek IG post, Brown claimed that “Real Artists HATE HIM” while encouraging folks to head to G1988 to “come see how he made people on the internet think glueing trash together was art.” Dano makes toys and he makes jokes, Dremels ABS plastic and cracks wise. There’s no doubt that there are plenty of stuffy art snobs out there who would be more than eager to dismiss what he does and reject it as art, simply based on the lighthearted nature of his work, but what makes him stand out from so much of the pack are his ideas, his main goal being to manifest something into existence and incite reactions from those that come in contact with his creations. On that level, he’s a conceptual wizard. How is that not art? What’s not important about what he’s doing?
All of Dano Brown‘s pieces from the show are posted below. Each one is a mixed media piece measuring 6″ x 9″ and are hyperlinked directly to their product pages on the G1988 website. Most have already sold, but there are still a handful of them available if you move quick. Having these things selling out in a gallery exhibit adds another level of legitimacy to what he does, although that’s probably more so in his own mind than for anyone else who already recognizes the beauty, skill, and art involved in what he does. Peep out the work, share it, go down to the exhibit in person, and/or support him however else you can, if you’re into it. Brown has a family to support and, at this point, is still only working on his art in his free time. Maybe if we continue to support this dude, he can, eventually, live the dream of stepping away from his warehouse gig to kit bash GI Joe and Polly Pocket figures full time, continuing to dispense joy to idiots like ourselves.
