Joe Ledbetter
Contents
Biography
Influenced by classic animation, graphic design, and daily life, Joe Ledbetter's art is... well... a lot of things. Light-hearted in its approach, he often combines cute and cuddly creatures with unfortunate — albeit humorous — situations. With a lean on the subversive and absurd, these scenarios are all too familiar, questioning our tendency of taking life (and ourselves) too seriously. While working as a graphic apparel artist for three years, Ledbetter got involved in the LA underground art scene, beginning with group shows like Cannibal Flower. By the summer of 2004, he had honed his trademark visual style of emblematic line-work, vibrant colors, and endearing characters to the point of quitting his day job. His incredible cast of creatures have since been emblazoned on over 100 designer vinyl toys, as well as apparel and lifestyle brands, the world over.
Solo Shows
- Innards, 2011
Designed Toy Releases
- Hammerhead
- Bummer
- Smash
- Ringo Bear
- Gamerita - part of the Kaiju for Grownups series
- Finders Keepers
- Teeter
- Sluggonadon
- Fire Cat
- Mr Bunny
- Unicornasaurus
- Slander Snake
- Terror and Magnus
- Pico and Wilshire
- Chinese Zodiac
- Wrecks and Dazey
- Piggy Bank
- Good Morning Sunshine
- Mutant Bunny
- Burger Bunny
- Chaos Bunny
- Chaos Minis
- Pelican't
- The Outsiders
- Spitter
- Batman
- McFly
Toy Series Participation
- Bearbrick - 100% Artist Pack, for DesignerCon, 2019
- Janky - 3" "B.Watcher" Series 1, 2018
- Dunny - 3" Dunny Apocalypse Series, 2012
- Dunny - 3" Chase Dunny Apocalypse Series, 2012
- Tofu - 4" Mr. Bunny-Fu, 2011
- Tofu - 4" Sno-Bunny-Fu, 2011
- Dunny - 3" Swatch Project, with matching Swatch watch, 2011
- Little Trickers - 3" Grabbit Guest Designer, 2010
- The Vivisect Playset - King of the Deadbeets, Pink, Special Edition, 2009
- The Vivisect Playset - Ledkins, Blue, with Greg Simkins, Special Edition, 2009
- Dunny - 3" Endangered Species Series, 2009
- Teddy Troop - 3" Series 3, 2009
- Circus Punk - 15" Pirate Monkey, 100 pieces, 2008
- Dunny - 8" Tiger, Orange, 2008
- Dunny - 8" Tiger Chase, 2008
- The Vivisect Playset - King of the Deadbeets, 2008
- The Vivisect Playset - Ledkins, with Greg Simkins, 2008
- Teddy Troop - 10" Samhain Trooper, 500 pieces, 2007
- Dunny - 3" Series 4, 2007
- Circus Punk - 15", 100 pieces, 2007
- Trexi - Plus Series 2, 7x Trexis each with Touma, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Cat Red, 660 pieces, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Cat Mono, 100 pieces, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Cat Yellow, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Dog Blue, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Dog Brown, 2007
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Dog Orange, 2007
- Qee - 2.5" Ox-Op Series 3 - Gorilla, 2007
- Qee - 2.5" Toxic Swamp Qee Series, 2007
- Qee - 8" Forbidden Plant Edition, Toxic Swamp Cat Purple, 2006
- Qee - 8" Comic Con Edition, Toxic Swamp Bear Pink, 2006
- Qee - 36" Toxic Swamp Bear Green, 36 pieces, 2006
- Qee - 8" Toxic Swamp Bear Green, 2006
- Trexi - 10" & 3" Blue Flying Pig set, 2006
- Trexi - 10" & 3" Green Flying Pig set, 2006
- Dunny - 3" Series 3, 2006
- Qee - 2.5" Series 5b, Tiki Qee, 2005
- Dunny - 3" LA Series Pink, 2005
- Dunny - 3" LA Series Yellow, 2005
Customs & Show Pieces
- The Blank - custom for The Blank Show, 2016
- Paw - "Mr Bunny Paw" custom, 2014
- Piece(s) for Scary Girl - 10 Year Anniversary Exhibition, 2012
- Piece for Stop It!, 2011
- Piece(s) for Pray for Japan, 2011
- Piece for Inle, 2011
- Piece(s) for Small Gift, 2010
- Smash - 7" Siezer Smash, 2010
- Teeter - 5" Lizzard Teeter, 2010
- Teeter - 5" Citron Teeter, 2010
- Teeter - 5" Holiday Teeter, 2010
- Teeter - 5" Lava Holiday Teeter, 2010
- Dunny - 8" WTF, FTW!, 2010
- Buff Monster Series - Custom for The Monster Within show, 2010
- Vadar Helmet for the The Vadar Project, 2009
- Ringo Bear - South Paw, 2009
- Mr Bunny - Ms Bunny, 2009
- Fire Cat - Fire-Catzilla, 2009
- Unicornasaurus - Thundercornasaurus, 2009
- Munny - custom for 30 Customs by 30 Friends, 2009
- Piece(s) for Baby Tattooville, 2008
- Piece(s) for Vivisect Playset Show, 2008
- Piece(s) for I am 8-Bit, 2008
- Qee - 8" Ringo Bear, 2007
- Piece(s) for Crazy4Cult, 2007
- Vadar custom for The Vadar Project, 2007
- Cheshire Cat - 8" custom for We're All Mad Here, 2006
- Action Man Custom for Action Man 40 40, 2006
- Custom long board for Decked Out, 2006
- Piece(s) for I am 8-Bit, 2006
- "Yoo-hoo!" for Remixing the Magic, 2006
- Piece(s) for Vivisect Playset Show, 2006
- Aniballoon - 5" custom for Touma! Touma! Touma!, 2005
- Trexi - 3" Pyro Boner Deathboy, 2005
- Munny - custom for Munny Show LA, 2005
- MadL - 20" custom for MadL Show 2k5, 2005
- Funny Club - 4" custom for The Funny Club Show, 2005
- Piece(s) for I am 8-Bit, 2005
- Circus Punks - custom for 100 Circus Punks Rule NYC, 2005
- Qee - 8" Ringo Bear Orange custom, 2004
- Piece(s) for Vivisect Playset Show, 2004