This is Mike Bertino and his work absolutely wonderful. He’s got this original, almost lo-fi Tim Biskup thing going on and it makes me really want to grab a beer with him. I love when artists give their pieces names like Knuckle Inferno and Man Beard. It just makes them that much better. He keeps a blog where he publishes his latest work and lets you know where they’re available for purchase, so go check it out. I think I’m going to ask him to be my BFF. Well, at least one of them. Not the only one. Cause, you know … I have more than one.

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This is Head On by Cai Guo-Qiang and it’s absolutely breathtaking. It’s been a rather long time since I’ve said ‘wow’ at anything on this orgy called the internet, but his work is seriously wowful and engaging. While watching a clip of Stage One being set up at the Guggenheim, people call him the greatest artist of this decade and all you have to do is look at his work to agree.

The work of Joshua Ben Long can be found in the fantastical place called Longoland. His bizarre take on objects totally brings the madness from the dark left part of my brain. It makes me want to offer up ice cream to children that are screaming for it wildly like baby birds, then take it back and devour it while laughing maniacally. His plushes are truly brilliant. I’d really like to see his work mass produced and start breaking into the vinyl scene. Maybe some 3″ blind assortments, eh?

I’ve had a crush on Ashley Wood’s work for years now and the packaging art for the new Bertie variant, Dirty Deeds, is incredible. It’s an exciting addition to the WWR series, due out in April. Each one produced will be hand-painted and detailed with accessories and have 43 points of articulation. I seriously can’t wait to get one on my shelf. The packaging alone will be worth buying. [see also the BigFoot vinyl toy]