Into The Pixel Winners Announced, Tenth Annual Art Exhibit At E3 2013

When we speak of art in video games, we're often referring to the digital representations that play out across the screen. In fact, we've reached a point where concept art as promotional construct is often shrugged off as consumers ask, "Is that in-game?"

When separated from the commercial aspect of the industry, there is often deep appreciation of the artistically pure work that is often only seen on the front of boxes, in art books, and as brief stills in developer diary videos. For a decade, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences along with the Entertainment Software Association has shone the spotlight on the best of these works, with showcases at E3. This is a wonderful opportunity and a perfect setting to remind us how much depth there is to the universes woven on digital canvas.

This year, 16 pieces have been chosen to adorn the Concourse Foyer at the Los Angeles Convention Center as thousands of developers, publishers, and media gather for the annual trade show. The following pieces have been selected for inclusion:

• The Naval Duel by Martin Deschambault (Game: Assassin's Creed)
• Broken Age by Nathan "Bagel" Stapley (Game: Broken Age)
• Junkyard by Raymond Swanland (Game: Command and Conquer)
• Back from the Wild by Jaime Jones (Game: Destiny)
• The Buried City by Dorje Bellbrook (Game: Destiny)
• The Chant by Nick Thronborrow and Matt Rhodes (Game: Dragon Age)
• Dark Ages by Brian Thompson (Game: FETCH)
• Schemes Collage by Reece Millidge (Game: Icycle: On Thin Ice)
• Freljord by James Paick (Game: League of Legends)
• Castle Siege by Michel Ancel, Jean Christophe Alessandri, Lu Yang, Chrisophe Messier, Jean Brice Dugait, Simon Quemener, Sebastien du Jeu, Christophe Villez, Anthony Le Du, Jean-Baptiste Rollin, Benjamin Mouret, David Garcia (Game: Rayman Legends)
• Last Stand by Jeff Chamberlain, Anthony Eftekhari, Ray Chih, Yong Hyun Kim, Kirti Pillai, Laurent Pierlot, Takuya Suzuki, Fausto DeMartini, Vitaly Bulgarov, Chris Yang, Mike Kelleher, Sada Namaki, Shawn Liang, Jim Jiang, Seth Thompson, Bill LeBarge, Hsuan (Steven) Chen (Game: Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm)
• Super Summer Vacation Force by Mike Nguyen and Vic Nguyen (Game: Super Time Force)
• Remembering by John Sweeney (Game: The Last of Us)
• Cloudbank by Jen Zee (Game: Transistor)
• Crossroads by Daniel Dociu (Unannounced Title)
• Three Blind Mice by Tyler Schatz, Christina Faulkner (Game: Wonderbook: Digg's Nightcrawler)

The selected pieces were chosen for exhibition by a panel of experts including:

• Bob Rafei, Big Red Button Entertainment, Founder, CEO and Visual Director
• Glenn Phillips, Getty Research Institute, Senior Project Specialist & Consulting Curator, Department of Architecture and Contemporary Art
• Jon M. Gibson, iam8bit, Founder and Partner
• Matt Hall, Timbuk2 Studios, Senior Partner Production Designer
• Nora Dolan, Independent Curator
• Patricia Lanza, Director of Talent and Content, The Annenberg Space for Photography
• Seth Spaulding, Blizzard Entertainment, Art Manager

For those attending E3, taking time to wander through the Into the Pixel exhibit is a great way to unwind. For those that won't be making the trip, we have a full gallery of the winning images below. If you've missed the show in recent years, we also have galleries for 2012 and 2011. More collections are available on the official Into the Pixel site.

The full press release is available on page two.

LOS ANGELES – June 3, 2013 – The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today announced the 16 winning pieces of the world-renowned 2013 Into the Pixel (ITP) collection.  Now in its tenth year, ITP (#ITP2013) is a juried art exhibition that brings together experts from the traditional fine art world and the interactive entertainment industry to display and discuss the art of the video game.  The 2013 Into the Pixel art collection will be unveiled and presented at the annual E3 Expo in the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 11-13, 2013, at the Concourse Foyer.  

“The ITP collection is a reflection of the artistry, creativity and vision of this unique industry,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association that represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. “We are proud to support ITP and to celebrate the creators behind these works.”  

“Our industry continues to expand with the emergence of compelling content from independent, mobile and free-to-play developers, and the 2013 collection really reflects the incredibly diverse landscape of the interactive community as a whole,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “These pieces run the stylistic gamut, showcasing the varied inspirations of their truly talented creators. Many congratulations to this year’s artists and to the tenth anniversary of Into the Pixel!”

“This year's Into the Pixel collection features artists who are working across a remarkable range of genres, drawing inspiration not only from the history of art, but from the history of video games,” said Glenn Phillips, principal project specialist and consulting curator, Getty Research Institute. “These works smartly capture the mood, the story, the style, and the energy of the games for which they were created.”

The winners of the 2013 Into the Pixel collection include:

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The 2013 Into the Pixel Jurors included:

• Bob Rafei, Big Red Button Entertainment, Founder, CEO and Visual Director
• Glenn Phillips, Getty Research Institute, Senior Project Specialist & Consulting Curator, Department of Architecture and Contemporary Art
• Jon M. Gibson, iam8bit, Founder and Partner
• Matt Hall, Timbuk2 Studios, Senior Partner Production Designer
• Nora Dolan, Independent Curator
• Patricia Lanza, Director of Talent and Content, The Annenberg Space for Photography
• Seth Spaulding, Blizzard Entertainment, Art Manager

About Into the Pixel:

Into the Pixel (ITP) has established itself as the annual opportunity for video game artists to receive critical review of their creative achievements by peers in the both digital interactive world and traditional fine art experts. The ITP collection has been on exhibit at GDC, PAX East, South by Southwest, SIGGRAPH Asia, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the D.I.C.E. Summit, among others. For more information on the 2013 and previous collections, please visit www.intothepixel.com.