Medicom Toy has tapped one of Japan’s foremost pop artists for its latest Be@rbrick release. Keiichi Tanaami brings the trippy aesthetic he is renowned for to 100% and 400% figurines, available in red and white colorways.
Although Tanaami does not describe himself as a pop artist per se, there are elements of the movement that have clearly influenced his designs. Across both Be@rbrick iterations, we find the recurring motif of the brain portrayed in the likeness of a flower, together with nightmarish illustrations of skeletal mouths and jaws. Designs recall Tanaami’s Mickey’s Japan Tourism work and his Dividing Bridge and Lost and Wandering Bridge series.
The female bear comes done up in red, with eerie vertical eyes and coral reproductive organs. Like the female figure, the matte black male has eyes on its knee caps, and differentiates itself with a swirling tropical bird over its chest.
The Medicom Toy x Keiichi Tanaami Be@rbrick collaboration is slated to drop August 24 at zozo.jp for $143. Stay tuned for further updates as we have them.
