Attack of the Giant Takashi Murakamis

While Takashi Murakami was installing his gigantic, hyperreallistic, inflatable self in Qatar (above, left), the humbler Mike Leavitt was chiseling away in his hand-built Seattle studio finishing off an effigy of his own (above, right).

Leavitt’s 3-foot articulated wood Murakami sculpture is based on the Art Army Royalty figure he showed at Jonathan LeVine Gallery last September. The new, bigger version is hand-carved with chisels and knives out of cedar with Dremeled details and an enamel finish. Sorry would-be collectors: the piece was commissioned and is spoken for.