With Gallery 1988’s latest exhibition at it’s Venice location drawing ever closer, we’ve decided to give a quick preview of some of the Old School Video Game Art Show’s entered pieces. Opening next Friday (September 16th), the show is set to feature pixelated 8-bit tributes from over 100 artists including Luke Ryan, Kim Herbst, DeadlySweetPlushes, Jasinski, Danconia and Joebot, all of whom are included below.
The 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda this year has given many artists a chance to express their nostalgia for Hyrule’s enchanting digital kingdom. In fact, all but one of the pieces revealed thus far (including Alison Sommers’ A Boy and his Dodongo, featured TTF August 24th) have been influenced by Nintendo’s creations in one way or another- their iconic IP’s still gaining the same love and respect some quarter of a decade on from initial release.
Kim Herbst- Fairy Eater
San Francisco based artist Kim Herbst’s fantasy inspired art has graced several Facebook and smart phone games in recent years. Zelda’s design has played a massive part in shaping her style, so it was only fitting that the main character, Link, would feature in her work.
Here, Kim explains the idea behind her piece;
“The first few Legend of Zelda games didn’t have the whole spiritual ‘fairy flies around Link, sparkle sparkle’ animations. I used to wonder what the heck he did with those fairies to restore his health since he’d touch them and they’d just… disappear…this is what my innocent-child-mind thought…”
Joebot- The Legends of Hyrule
Recently garnering attention for his retro-themed children’s record art for Firefly and Dr Horrible, contemporary illustrator and designer, Joebot, has taken his winning formula one step further for his entry in the show. Another massive fan of the Zelda series, Joebot has created sleeve art for an album from the games’ two main characters.
Joebot gives us a little backstory;
“Link and Zelda have taken a break from their adventures. The Princess is tired of constantly being kidnapped by Ganon and Link needed to relax and fill up his heart containers. During some downtime, the two came together and decided to put pen to paper and out of that came The Legends of Hyrule’s new album Songs of Time”
Along with a limited set of prints of both the front and back of the design, Joebot has created a one-off sleeve featuring a mounted gold record (similar to the games’ limited gold cartridges) which will we present at the show.
Luke Ryan- Zelda Untitled Works
Not much information has been given about Luke Ryan’s entries at present, but the initial Zelda inspired illustrations hold all the qualities we’ve come to expect from the up and coming illustrator; blending media and techniques, the combination of pixels and droll comic strip style give the game and it’s characters an interesting new slant.
Jasinski- Turbo All The Way
Seattle based painter Aaron Jasonki has exhibited across the United States and Europe, also working on a string of children’s books, album covers, and music tracks. His entry was inspired by his favourite NES game, Excite Bike, depicting the racer’s main protagonist holding down firmly on turbo- a classic staple of playing the much loved game.
D’Aconia- Nintendo Nagaremono: Mario-Sama
Canadian artist Sean D’Aconia’s engaging blend of cult cinema, animation and seductive pop art has built him a dedicated following across Florence, Vancouver, LA and Hong Kong, with his entry to the upcoming show no exception. Mario’s retro manga re-styling is a perfect antidote to the plethora of 3D visuals we encounter today, making us realise why we fell in love with the games in the first place.
D’Aconia elaborates;
“For my contribution to the show, I redesigned Mario with some elements and features that harken back to 1960′s manga stylization (with a little nod to Saruta from Tezuka’s Hi No Tori epic) with an updated style going in a very different direction from the present 3D version. In fact, I still believe that 2D art gives the audience a closer, more personal feel/understanding of an animated characters than 3D. Its the simplicity of great 2D art that made Mario such a success. The piece integrates both the Nintendo Handheld’s of the 80′s (my fav being Donkey Kong) with Hanafuda memorabilia, and little arcade touches as well. Mario’s arm is adorned with Donkey Kong and JR irezumi tattoos along with an Orochi and other elements of Japanese Ukiyo-E mythology.”
-Daconia blog
DeadlySweetPlushes- Megaman Plush
Finally, an entry NOT inspired by the great Nintendo!
DeadlySweetPlushes’ Michelle Legendre hand stitched this cute take on the Capcom favourite, Megaman, using felt, faux fur and fleece.
Michelle adds;
“I jumped to the chance of making Megaman as it was the first game I played on a console (NES) when I was 5 – the game is still solid 20+ years later and better than most new games on the market.”
(links to follow…)
shingangu.com 