Mike Leavitt (born November 4, 1977) is an American visual artist based near Seattle, Washington responsible for a variety of pop art, fine art, design and satirical works in various media. His sculptures are one of a kind one-off's though some of his design projects are prototypes reproduced in limited or larger quantities as Leavitt "blends art, design and social commentary". Well known for his handmade statues of cultural icons, his more recent work includes a series of action figures reproduced by the Brooklyn, NY toy company FCTRY inspired by Leavitt's political persuasions as an 11th-generation American descendant of John Leavitt (1608-1691).
Background
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Leavitt was influenced by the wood-craft and engineering of Native American, Scandinavian, and industrial craft in the region. His parents practiced education, graphic design and environmentalism, formulating Leavitt's early interests in both art and sociology. As a child he taught himself to build miniature hydroplanes in balsa wood. "My mom had some drawing skills, she started as a graphic designer at Boeing," Leavitt says, "I would have her draw my action figures, and I would watch her draw." He attended The Pratt Institute in New York in 1996–97, and completed a self-designed Bachelor of Arts at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA in 2001. "Leavitt began crafting a motley variety of apartment friendly, popcult-themed art after dropping out of Pratt to avoid working for whoever passes for 'The Man' in the art world." (Thrillist.com) From 1998 to 2004 Leavitt executed a series of conceptual art pieces like "Push Button Performer" (2001–2004) with cabaret-style audience confrontations in public. In the same period Leavitt's studio became known as The Intuition Kitchen ArtShop in Seattle, evolving as a self-produced gallery space. His 'ArtShop' sold his trading cards and first hand-made action figures. It closed in 2004 as Leavitt showed his work in retail galleries. Since then Leavitt has continued his professional career and community activism.
1999-2008 "Portable Homeless Shelters"
Just prior to the 1999 Seattle WTO protests, Leavitt built three small, wheeled housing units to be used by tent cities for the homeless. The first two units, made from salvaged pallet wood and recycled materials, served Seattle area tent cities for 3 years to follow. "As the homeless faced the threat of street sweeps during WTO, Leavitt's creations were used as a 'honeymoon for one couple, and as a headquarters for the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE). Log cabins for the homeless? It is an odd invention indeed. But it may also be a solutions of sorts for homelessness in Seattle."(Real Change) To improve on his first designs, Leavitt built a third unit in 2001 using vinyl siding scraps salvaged from construction debris. Though designed as a domestic dwelling, the unit was used for 7 years as secure storage and nighttime security posts in the tent cities until it was dismantled in 2008.
2001-15 Trading Cards
With his "ArtCards" from 2001 to 2003 Leavitt painted small portraits of famous and lesser-known artists, re-printed like traditional baseball cards. "I had so many ideas- too many ideas- the opposite of writer's block" says Leavitt, "I started doing trading cards of work I had already done, ideas for things I hadn't built, and famous people... my influences, who inspired me." "ArtCard" subjects were drawn from varied genre, similar to his successive "Art Army" action figures. As described by Leavitt, the trading cards were the direct precursor to the 'action figures': "the trading cards... were like singular figures in action. Why not 3-D? Why not an action figure, a toy?" Printed and sold in limited editions, packaged in wrappers with bubble gum, "Art Cards" were also exhibited as art objects. Leavitt said, "It's a way I created to compare people and what they do across all kinds of different areas." "Many mass-produced trading cards are based on original pieces that are shrunken down to fit the space. 'I take great pride that that is the size I drew them,' Leavitt says. 'It's one of the challenges I like- it's like a game, to create art that small and make it work.'" (The Artist's Magazine)
Seattle-based independent media advocacy group Reclaim the Media collaborated with Leavitt in 2008 to produce a set of "Media Heroes" trading cards. From 2009 to 2015 the Topps Trading Card company hired Leavitt to produce illustrations for their Star Wars sketch cards .