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See the Best of Video Game Art at E3’s 'Into the Pixel'

Villains, labyrinths, taverns, and blind forests become celebrated art in video game exhibit.
Never Alone.Title: Adrift.Artist: Dima Veryovka. Publisher: E-Line Media. Developer: E-Line Media/Seattle and Upper One games. All images courtesy the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS).

Last week in LA, the video-game juggernaut known as E3 drew record-breaking crowds, with over 52,200 analysts, journalists, and gaming professionals from more than a hundred countries descending upon the Los Angeles Convention Center to check out hundreds of exhibitors and products, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Meanwhile, nestled quietly in the foyer of the Concourse Hall between the big-name video-game companies in the West Hall and the comparatively indie-friendly South Hall was the 12th annual Into the Pixel: An Exhibition of the Art of the Video Game, which continues to honor artists who represent new frontiers in interactive entertainment art, and just like E3 itself, Into the Pixel had a milestone of its own.

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President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Martin Rae said, "Great care and spirited debate went into curating the 2015 collection and we are exceedingly proud of the 18 pieces — especially our first-ever sculptural piece," Brian Fay’s model titled, Grommash Maquette from the World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor game.

The seven jurists included not just video game pros, but also founder and partner of iam8bit, Jon Gibson; independent curator Nora Dolan; and director of talent and content at the Annenberg Space for Photography, Patricia Lanza. All agreed the collection represented a wide range of styles and genres, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics.

Into the Pixel's 2015 collection is the most diverse collection we have yet seen,” said Glenn R. Phillips, Curator, Modern & Contemporary Collections, Getty Research Institute. "The submissions this year spanned an astonishing array of visual styles, with artists taking inspiration from the histories of art and literature, architecture, world cultures, mythology, cinema, every imaginable sphere of pop culture and of course the history of gaming itself."

See a selection from Into the Pixel below:

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Title: Grommash Maquette. Artist: Brian Fay. Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment. Developer: Blizzard Entertainment. 

Armikrog. Title: Armikrog Emerald Room. Artists: Ed Schofield, Samantha Cadier, Mike Dietz, Bree Paulsen. Publisher: Versus Evil. Developer: Pencil Test Studios.  

Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Title: The Slums. Artist: Hugo Puzzuoli. Publisher: Ubisoft. Developer: Ubisoft Quebec. 

Battleborn. Title: Rendain. Artist: Herman Ng. Publisher: 2K Games. Developer: Gearbox Software. 

Destiny.Title: The Graveyard. Artist: Dorje Bellbrook. Publisher: Activision. Developer: Bungie. 

Far Cry 4. Title: The Protector's Arrival. Artist: Kay Huang. Publisher: Ubisoft. Developer: Ubisoft Montreal (lead studio), Ubisoft Toronto (associate studio).

The Wolf Among Us. Title: The Trip Trap Tavern. Artist: David Bogan (models: Jason Findley, Steve Moore, Megan Gritzfeld, Erik Ose). Publisher: Telltale Games. Developer: Telltale Games.

Ori and the Blind Forest.Title: Ori and Naru. Artist: Johannes Figlhuber, Max Degen. Publisher: Microsoft Studios. Developer: Moon Studios.

Monument Valley. Title: Labyrinth. Artist: David Fernández-Huerta. Publisher: ustwo. Developer: ustwo games.

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