2011 Into the Pixel winners bring light to the art behind the games

Ryan Wilsey 30 May, 2011 at 1:23pm ET Article published in Gaming

Back in March, we covered how Into the Pixel—a prestigious video game art contest and exhibition—was collecting submissions for the Into the Pixel 2011 show. Well, the day has finally come: the winners have been announced, and the artwork is absolutely breathtaking. From futuristic space scenes to cute and stylized theater plays, Into the Pixel 2011 has captured some of the best the gaming industry has to offer. And with the “games as art” debate taking the limelight recently, this is a perfect time for an art show like Into the Pixel to shine.

Now in its eighth year, Into the Pixel is a collaborative effort from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) to advance the artistic merit that backs every video game. Each of the seventeen pieces of art in this year’s exhibit were judged by a group of both traditional fine arts and contemporary digital artists, making Into the Pixel one of the most prestigious honors to be featured in. Showcased around the world, the 2011 winners will be showcased at this year’s E3 Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which takes place June 7-9.

So what’s the significance of all this pomp and circumstance? Games have always been the next evolution as an art form. From still images, there were motion pictures. From motion pictures, we have interactive motion pictures—video games. The fact that video games have finally been officially recognized as an art form, it’s more important than ever to really pay attention to what goes into the design and creation of a modern-day video game. Martin Rae, president of the AIAS himself puts it quite clearly: “Now that public institutions have accepted video games as a legitimate form of art, there is no question that video game art has and will continue to have a place in the contemporary art scene.”

Yoshitaka Amano's Final Fantasy VI art

I can tell you from a personal perspective that these art shows really do matter. I’ve studied fine arts in college, and I’ve seen last year’s Into the Pixel in person at E3. Quite frankly, most, if not all, of the works there belong in a museum—and that’s just a fraction of what the gaming industry can pump out behind the scenes every year. Highly artistic concept art isn’t a new idea; even back in the days before polygons were even considered for use, there were fantastic artists working on games. Anyone familiar with Yoshitaka Amano—the fantastically ornate artist behind early Final Fantasy games—knows just what kind of work goes into concept and character art.

I’ve seen first-hand what these game industry artists are capable of. I once had the privilege to talk to a concept artist from the former Midway Games over drinks. He was nothing short of a fully-fledged artist, and extremely talented. With years of experience from both traditional and digital arts, he could easily have been a renaissance painter had he been born in another era. People like him deserve proper respect for their talents. It is my sincere hope that more art shows like Into the Pixel can help show the general public that video games aren’t just about recreating scenes of war or street gangs, but rather something beautiful.