Toy designer, Sergey Safonov, dreamed of space travel all throughout his childhood in Russia. As a kid, Sergey was surrounded with space memorabilia: He had tons of space related-books and magazines, space food (tiny bricks of bread and space tubes) and April 12th was a family holiday. The only problem Sergey had with space toys was that all of them were replicas of spaceships and mechanisms, and he was looking for characters with which to play and tell stories. Now Sergey Safonov is grown up with a young son of his own, so he is trying to create his own space character: Luno the Moon Rover.

Support Safonov’s dream by visiting his Kickstarter page.

More looks at Luno and a short video after the jump.

Toy Art Gallery will present Contemporary Figurative Modifications, a six man group show featuring Bob Conge/Plaseebo, Brent Nolasco, Jim Koch, Leecifer, TASKone, and Nerviswr3k from April 2, 2011. These artists take customization to the next level, merging vinyl, paint, resin, canvas, even each other’s original creations to create a new toy art experience. The exhibition will run through April 30, 2011.

Toy Art Gallery
737 Seward St #1
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Full preview after the jump.

BRAIN HUE is 12 months of exclusive Jumping Brains painted in 12 colours. Each Jumping Brain is 2” and hand-painted in a pearlized high gloss finish by Emilio Garcia and Lapolabs.

To kick off the BRAIN HUE program properly, Toy Art Gallery decided to offer three beautiful colors in March. On Monday March 14th, the first three BRAIN HUE colors will be available there and at the Official Jumping Brain Store. New BRAIN HUEs will be released on the first Monday of each month all the way through December

Toy Art Gallery has just released Alien Argus by Mark Nagata, available for the first time in the USA, just in time for the opening of the artist’s Custom Group Show on February 26, 2011. The exhibition will find a slew of people – 70 artists – offering custom takes on the Alien Argus.

Toy Art Gallery
737 Seward St #1
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Full press release and information after the jump.

Exclusive to NOWherelimited, Frank Kozik’s iconic “Dead Che” vinyl bust is now available in grey. Kozik’s been working “Dead Che” since the 1990s, this version coming in an edition of just 50.

New York-based Jason Freeny succeeds in moving colorful, if not deranged, digital ideas from the screen to 3D sculpture. His latest is “Muno (Yo Gabba Gabba),” typical of Freeny’s quirky skeletal sharing vinyl pieces, this time with one of Kid Robot’s most famous toys as the basis.

Freeny dissects some pop culture favorites with great regularity. A few more examples after the jump.

Frank Kozik’s career as a poster designer and vinyl toy pioneer is no doubt impressive. He designed posters for Nirvana and the Beastie Boys, and he also pushed forward some of Kid Robot’s early and most popular collectibles. Equally impressive is Kozik’s continued relevance, which will be on full display from February 18, 2011 in an exhibition of new works at Chicago’s Rotofugi entitled Stoner Fort.

Hi Fructose recently took the enviable opportunity to visit Kozik in his San Francisco studio. The images they provide from the trip offer a glimpse at the artist’s own collection, and most importantly his working habits.

View more after the jump.

Big news for Jeff Soto, the painter’s collaborative effort with Bigshot Toyworks, consisting of 8 figures, is now complemented by a series of Small Paintings. The “Mini Seeker” painters are small scale and done in spray paint and acrylic. Preorder “The Seeker” Collector Set here.

Check paintings and release info after the jump.

Frank Kozik has cooked up a limited edition (500) vinyl figure for Record Store Day 2011. Images are available now, full information to follow in the future. Pretty cool.

Full details of the figure after the jump.

On January 20, 2011 Toy Art Gallery opens a solo exhibition of new works by Venezuelan artist Carlos Enriquez Gonzalez, entitled Sacred Trip. Carlos Enriquez-Gonzalez was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1968. He studied in the “School of Visual Arts Cristóbal Rojas” (1989, Caracas). He studied at  “The Art Students League of New York” (2001, New York, NY). He pursued a Masters Degree in Contemporary Visual Art at the (IUESAPAR) “University Institute of Higher Education on Plastic Arts Armando Reverón” (2002, Caracas). Current fans included Jeff Koons and Simone de Pury.

Enriquez-Gonzalez produces varied material – from film to three dimensional animation – but the focus in Sacred Trip is certainly his small scale sculpture.

Toy Art Gallery
737 Seward St #1
Los Angeles, CA 90038

A full preview after the jump.