Toys & Art: Plaseebo / Bob Conge

Creating pieces in various forms, including illustrations, figures and 3D art, American customiser and artist, Bob Conge, began exhibiting his work both in the US and internationally in 1985. Since that time, he has had his work shown at events and museums/galleries such as the Lahti VIII Poster Biennale (Lahti, Finland), Musee de la Publicite (Paris, France),  9th Colorado International Poster Invitational (Colorado, USA), Imiri Invitational / Kaiju Blue Gallery (Tokyo, Japan) and many more. As an illustrator, he has also worked for many well-known clients such as EMI Records, IBM, the Wall Street Journal and Sony Records, to name but a few.




Portrait illustration of Franz Kafka



A shrine art piece



 



In 2004, he started Plaseebo, which is a "shop ded­i­cated to cre­at­ing unique one of a kind col­lec­table fig­ures and design­ing orig­i­nal fig­ures for Ultra Lim­ited edi­tions". The focus of these figures is often kaiju, a Japanese word meaning 'strange beast' or 'monster', frequently used to describe characters such as Godzilla, King Kong, Gamera and even Frankenstein's Monster in movies.

A group of Plaseebo figures



Each figure is extremely detailed and many have backstories, giving them all their own unique character and adding to their charm. Some also have LED lights installed inside, giving them a glowing effect when in the dark, which looks quite stunning. The combination of the grinning features and unusual looks of figures such as 'War' and 'Skulloctopus' also make them extremely endearing characters, even if the subject matter might be a serious one. 

'Skulloctopus Rex' with LED switched on, in a dark room

If you like Conge's work, you can see his newly finished pieces 'Think Tank', which will be limited to 5 or 10 and, unique item 'War Monger', at the 'Contemporary Figure Modification' show. The event will be held in April 2011 at the TAG in Hollywood, California.



'War Monger'



'Think Tank'



You can also find out more information and keep up to date with news and future activities by visiting the following websites:

Plaseebo

Bob Conge's Official Site

Bob Conge Illustration Page

Thank you to Bob Conge for permission to use the pictures and information.
More images after the cut below↓

'The Planet 51 Night Gamer'

'Garumega' with LEDs

'American Idle' shrine



'The Pharaoh Plaseebos' Cheshire Cat Mummy' custom



'DOKUPUS' Meets 'SKULLOCTOPUS'

'War'

The video below is a review of a 'Night Gamer' figure, which is included mainly for size comparison.