Fantasy and Concept Artists, the Great Boundary Pushers of Our Time

Ignored by their peers, shunned by galleries and museums, yet they have the biggest impact on people's lives.

No, it's not Cubism or any other form of "Modern Art." Those have gained general acceptance in the art world and so haven't actually pushed artistic or emotional boundaries in decades, leaving us to search for new rebels against the artistic, academic, and wealthy elite.

At this point, however, there's really only one thing which the artistic elite deride, art with a purpose. That is illustrations, concept art, animation art, and the art forms based on these.

"Oz the Great and the Powerful" asked many questions about the nature of good
about relationships, and human emotions. A large part of this story came from the art.

Great art doesn't question the nature of art anymore, that's been done over and over and over again, and really the answer won't change the world, or make anyone's life better.

Nor is art a very good medium for philosophy as it can't send complex messages, and most people won't pick up on its message anyway.

There are three things visual art is very good at.

1-Art can help to shape stories, and push stories to deliver more complex and meaningful messages.

2-Art can affect people's mood and emotions. Some art, such as landscapes have been shown to reduce stress, while pictures of cute animals have been shown to improve test scores.

3-Similar to the above two, art can give people moments of inspiration, of wonder. Art can make people's lives a little more beautiful. Some of the greatest art is in clothing, on cups, in things that people use every day, because it's daily life that we must all struggle through.

The Bioshock games questioned social and political reality, as well as science
more effectively than any individual work of art.

So while galleries and museums tend to ignore concept art, speculative realism and surrealism, this is merely evidence that they, like the galleries and museum that ignored the Impressionists, are out of touch.

Video games such as Ultima, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, all made people role play emotional questions. No medium outside of video games has involved people in philosophical questions, or put people emotionally inside others so effectively as video games. And even if they are low pixel images, video games are typically artistically driven.

Emotions matter. They inspire people, but more than this they
Can make life worth living. So emotional art, like that of Disney's
"Tangled" are the ultimate expressions of our humanity.

Ultima IV had players seek to become virtuous, to understand what virtue was.
The artists in the story faced challenges brought on by technology that limited
their wild inclinations. Forcing them to make every pixel count, and to really
think about what they were doing.
(Picture from CRPG Addict)

Follow Wandering Folklorist's board fantasy paintings on Pinterest.
Even the fantasy art in general can push boundaries. More than this it provides momentary inspiration and emotional lifts to help people fight through their lives.