Joe Black's giant piece entitled 'Made in China'. Produced using more than 5500 toy soldiers, this portrait is of a Chinese soldier boy taken by photographer Robert Capa. The original image was used on the front cover of LIFE magazine in January 1938 to cover the Sino Japanese War. The toy soldiers are manufactured in China, hence the title.
About: Born 1973, studied as a sculptor and then moved in to illustration and worked for many years as a successful commercial artist.
Now focused solely on his personal artwork, Joe Black does not refer to himself as an artist but considers himself an image-maker. Combining his love of materials with his craft, skills, technique and a passion for perfection, each piece is painstakingly created using thousand upon thousand of ball bearings, plastic pins, badges or Lego Bricks. He will use pretty much anything small enough to build his large images creating vast tonal effects. The materials he uses often plays tribute to the iconic imagery it makes up.
(Above) 'Carry Your Own Sins Missy' 1478 handmade badges of collected imagery, from Elvis and Disney cartoons to the Vietnam War. The iconic image of Captain America encapsulates the idea of America as the hero nation. However, within the image we glimpse the conflicts and contradictions of the all American dream.
.jpg)
