Event: Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art (Akron, Ohio, 2019-2020)
Curated by Theresa Bembnister, Associate Curator at Akron Art Museum, Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art is bound to be one of the most impressive exhibitions entirely dedicated to Game Art of the late Tens. Open in October 2019 and running until January 2020, the exhibition will feature many artworks that are influenced by the popularity and cultural relevance of video games. Open World will include paintings, sculpture, prints, textiles, drawing, animation, video games and modifications and game-based performances and interventions by international artists from the late 1980s to today. The expression "open world" refers both to a genre of gaming where players can define their own goals within a virtual landscape rather than following predetermined paths, but also to the opportunities video games offer for creative expression. The exhibition will also feature early arcade games, text adventure, modern multi-player online games and first-person shooters. Commercial games will not be included, making Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art the antithesis of The Smithsonian's The Art of Games. The full line up has not been announced yet, but artists confirmed include Butt Johnson (New York), Angelo Ray Martinez (South Bend, Indiana), Tim Portlock (St. Louis), Suzanne Treister (London) and Angela Washko (Pittsburgh). Other artists under considerations are Tabor Robak, Cory Arcangel and many more. The Akron Art Museum recently received a $30.000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of its first major funding for fiscal year 2018. The grant will be used to fund the exhibition.
Stay tuned for more information.
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