It's way too soon to assess the eventual impact of video game art – those imaginative covers and content designed to appeal to potential gamers - but The College of New Jersey is taking a bold step by showcasing the three-decade history of the genre so far.
In the 19th Century, a group of outsiders turned the art world on its head. Their work, labelled "offensive" and "insulting," drew nothing but disgust from the establishment.
You know them better today as the Impressionists: Artists such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and Pierre Renoir, whose influence on the course of art history is as powerful now as it was revolutionary then.
Generations later, an unknown painter raised eyebrows when he dribbled riotous colors on canvas in seemingly random patterns.
Today, Jackson Pollock's pieces have pride in place in such institutions as New York's Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
It's way too soon to assess the eventual impact of video game art - those imaginative covers and content designed to appeal to potential gamers - but The College of New Jersey is taking a bold step by showcasing the three-decade history of the genre so far.
With "A Palette of Pixels: The Evolving Art of Video Games," a new exhibition at the college's art gallery open to the public now through Dec. 13, TCNJ is acknowledging that not all avenues of creative expression are created equal - but all have their role to play in enhancing a viewer's understanding of the world.
Curated by Chris Ault, associate professor of interactive media, the exhibition highlights concept art, sculptures and sketches, as well as offering more than a dozen interactive game stations.
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Diehards will get a kick of nostalgia from coming across old arcade and Atari games, while newcomers to the video-gaming world will appreciate the technology that brings newer titles vividly to life.
Nearly two dozen games are on display, from "Centipede" to "Bioshock" and "God of War." Familiar titles include "Flower," an adventure game whose users control the wind and blow petals across varied landscapes; and "Journey," in which players guide a robed figure through a seemingly endless desert toward a mountain in the distance.
According to Ault, today's game designers are free to experiment with the latest techniques, and have the ability to express themselves in almost limitless ways.
Visitors to the gallery can play a wide selection of games while discovering what lay behind the designers' thinking and how those choices reflect the content and philosophy of the game itself.
Learning while playing - what a great concept.
Laboring largely in obscurity, the artists who bring these worlds to life have found a welcome venue at TCNJ. They may never have the name recognition of a Picasso or a Michelangelo, but they have much to contribute to our understanding of and appreciation for art.