#anthony macbain

[gebo4482]

Never-Before-Published GTA 5 Concept Art Made It to the Internet (80.lv)

Artist: Anthony Macbain / Roxie Vizcarra

[dancyrilkingston]

Bully (Canis Canem Edit) character art by Anthony MacBain

[canonqueercharacters]

The canon queer character of the day is:

James "Jimmy" Hopkins from Bully, who is bisexual.

[canonqueercharacters]

The canon queer character of the day is:

Florian Cravic, AKA Bernie Crane, from Grand Theft Auto IV, who is gay.

[canonqueercharacters]

The canon queer character of the day is:

Elizabeta “Liz” Torres from Grand Theft Auto IV, who is bisexual.

[richardgin]

99999999..., Hank’s Saloon, 11/14/15

https://allnines.bandcamp.com/

[amusetogazeupon]

I admit it, I'm a GTA addict.. Have been since the release of Vice city.

This is one of many beautiful illustrations from Grand Theft Auto IV by Anthony Macbain. I believe it is Little Jacob... Very comfy.

[maartenbrands-blog-blog]

Games & Art? Be critical but know what you're talking about

After a gruelling couple of 80 hour workweeks preparing and attending the Art.Fair/Blooom! 2011 contemporary art fair for a soft launch of our art dealership Cook & Becker, I finally had some time to sit down and read up on some stuff this morning.   As I obviously spend weeks mostly thinking about art, I couldn’t help but notice this comment from author, broadcaster and general UK arts guru Ekow Eshun, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in the UK on the games & art debate:   "I'd suggest that the things we really consider art are the things that allow us to ask profound questions about who we are, how we live and the state of the world around us. I think most games don't get to that place."   Obviously the man has never played Grand Theft Auto IV in-depth. Or watched The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire or Treme. GTA IV is but one example, but it is without a doubt one of the most culturally relevant pieces of art and entertainment of the last couple of years. Because it does EXACTLY that what Eshun singles out as benchmark for art. The cocktail of subversive and sarcastic social commentary, the in-car radio, the skewed pop-culture reference, the art direction in combination with your role as a participant is extremely impressive and easily goes beyond mere entertainment. I remember playing it and being so absolutely impressed with it. A product of a studio at the top of their game. The brilliant thing is that because of its hugely approachable game form, GTA IV has reached millions of people with its controversial messages in a way that is both subtle AND heavy-handed. As a cultural product GTA IV has been and is arguably more influential than for example the street art pamphlets of Shepard Fairey. Rockstar artists like Stephen Bliss and Anthony Macbain have created iconic images on par with the Obama “Hope” poster with work such as "Lollipop Girl". Next year I hope to have some of their work at art shows. Art, games, media, they are colliding and reshaping quite dramatically and it is a great thing to be able to discuss it with people. One of the most interesting things for us at Blooom! for instance was to talk about video game aesthetics with art-enthusiasts and buyers who were very open towards this type of work. It is easy to forget coming from the games industry sometimes that a vast majority of the people, even art enthusiasts have no idea how this type of work is made, what the inspirations are or how it is rooted in art history. We got some really good feedback at Blooom! Even some unsolicited “This is the future of art” comments. Which is great but no reason to stop being very critical. Being critical is good, but make sure to have some knowledge about the subject you're discussing when you are.

P.S. The BBC radio discussion with Eshun was quite reasonable and even. However, I do think that most people commenting about the 'art status' of games usually don't have enought in-depth knowledge or fail to make broader connections.