Gta-Mission, akvarell, 120x280cm. [Image courtesy of the artist]
Finnish artist Petri Hytönen (1963-) spent one year in the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto (GTA). He enjoyed the freedom of movement in Rockstar Games' virtual world. Fascinated by the characters and narrative of the virtual metropolis, Petri learned about the social dynamics of the simulation. Instead of seeking inspiration for his art in the "real" world, he entered the virtual landscape, where he came in contact with many human situations that he could not find in his anywhere else. The result of this experience became “GTA-SAGA”, around 30 watercolors with situations from GTA. Most of the watercolors are in the format 56x76 cm but there are also bigger paintings as “A long evening in Vice City” 207x300 cm. GTA-SAGA have been shown at Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg,Sweden and Galleria Heino in Helsinki, Finland. (Mathias Jansson)
“First, there was a "You take care of what your kids are playing" period and then after this came a "playing some games together with your friends and children" period, which changed little by little into a new form : seeing myself playing and painting this new virtual world, scenes from GTA "Vice City", "Liberty City Stories" and "St Andreas". Through painting different episodes of GTA I left the real world for about one year. And for a 44-year-old guy it is a long time of your life. But in this painting and playing-process I have found many new sides of human beings which normally wouldn´t appear in our everyday behaviour. […] And by playing, researching and painting this world of videogames called "GTA" I have had my motives only in my studio - just around me. And this has made the work really introvert and an exciting dive into deep waters...” (From the catalog, Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg)
Link: Petri Hytönen
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