Exhibitions & Screenings
2025
Screening, Le Cube Garges, Garges-les-Gonesse, France
"One Tethered Bird" (solo exhibition), Cornish Behnke Family Gallery, Seattle, WA
2024
"Playing Utopia", Shanzhong Tian Art Center (closed by local censorship authorities), Beijing, China
"All Mine / Rushmore", Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
2023
"A-Real Engine", 2023 Digital Art Festival Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
"Forest For The Trees", Railspur, Seattle, WA
"MINE VR", VRAL (online exhibition), Milan, Italy
"Perfect Behaviors", OGR Torino, Torino, Italy
2022
"Artist Film Festival", Artport, Tel Aviv, Israel
"Playmode", Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
"Prepper Paradise", Bureau Europa, Maastricht, Netherlands
2021
"Solar Utopias", Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA
2020
"Game Changers", MassArt Art Museum, Boston, MA
"Animal Crossing: All Mine", VRAL (online exhibition), Milan, Italy
"YES: Maggie Hazen, Georgie Roxby Smith, Brent Watanabe", Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2019
"Through Machine Eyes (curated by James Bridle)", NeMe Arts Center, Limassol, Cyprus
"Playmode", MATT Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
"Milan Machinima Festival", Universita IULM, Milan, Italy
"In a Gamescape: Landscape, Reality, Storytelling and Identity in Video Games", NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo, Japan
"Supernova Digial Arts Festival", Alamo Draft House Sloans Lake, Denver, CO
"Where We Stand Now - In Order to Map the Future", 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
2018
"Bellwether 2018", Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
"Now Play This", Somerset House, London, England
2017
"San Andreas Community Cam (Inauguration Day)", Website and live stream
"isthisit? issue 05", Online and print publication, Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight
"Printed Web 5: Bot Anthology", Online and print publication, Edited by Paul Soulellis
"While( );", Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016
"San Andreas Animal Cam", Website and live stream
"The Spaces We're In", NEoN Digital Arts Festival, Dundee, Scotland
"Computer Games", OFFoff Cinema, Ghent, Belgium
"operand", Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
"Apeirophobia/Aporia", Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
"Game Video/Art", La Trienalle di Milano, Milan, Italy
"Out Of Sight", King Street Station, Seattle, WA
2015
"Dispose( );", SFCC Fine Arts Gallery, Spokane, WA
2014
"Come Again", Mini Mart City Park, Seattle, WA
2013
"Thank You", Anchor Art Space, Anacortes, WA
"For( ){ };", Kittridge Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2011
"This Heavy Load" (solo exhibition), Gallery 4Culture, Seattle, WA
"Game Theory", Cornish College of the Arts Main Gallery, Seattle, WA
2010
"Animated Art", Portland Film Center, Portland, OR
"Animated Art", Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA
"Cultural Transcendence", Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, WA
2009
"So Long" (solo exhibition), Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Stack:Heap:Loop v 1.5", Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
2008
"Stack:Heap:Loop" (solo exhibition), McLeod Residency, Seattle, WA
2007
"DOS Screenings", The Distillery, Boston MA
Live video performance, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
2006
Live video performance, Decibel Music Festival, Seattle, WA
"Malfunction: Sentimental Ghost is Missing" (solo exhibition with Jesse Paul Miller), Soil Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
2005
"A.TV", Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Screening, BoxLAND, Paris, France
2004
"Whiz Bang", CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Screening, Cornell Cinema, Ithaca, NY
Screening, Neuer Standort, Vienna, Austria
Screening, Harvestworks, New York, NY
Screening, Portland Experimental Film Festival, Portland, OR
2002
"Lava 2002", Noodleworks, Seattle, WA
2001
"Art Dialogue" (solo screening of selected works), Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Hanabuki" (collaboration with Jeffry Mitchell), Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Thrift Store Tapes", Commencement Gallery, Tacoma, WA
"Faux Naturale", Fuzzy Engine, Seattle, WA
2000
"The El Camino Effect", Fuzzy Engine, Seattle, WA
1999
Screening, 12emes Recontres Video Art Plastique, Normandy, France
1998
"Sound", Project 416, Seattle, WA
1997
Screening, American Film Institute, Los Angeles, CA
1996
"Freak Out!" (exhibition with Peter Bagge and Jim Blanchard), Vox Populi Gallery, Seattle, WA
Education
1995
University of Washington, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Drawing and Painting
Residencies, Awards & Honors
2022
Arts Innovator Award, Artist Trust Foundation
2021
Artist in Residence, Facebook Open Arts
2016
Guest Lecturer, University of Southern California, College of Media Arts and Practice, Los Angeles, CA
Guest Lecturer, Harvey Mudd College, Media Studies, Los Angeles, CA
Guest Lecturer, University of Washington, DXArts, Seattle, WA
2015
Artist in Residence, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2014
Individual Artist Projects Grant, 4Culture, Seattle, WA
2013
Artist in Residence, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
Artist in Residence, Anchor Art Space, Anacortes, WA
2012
Cathrine Boettcher Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2011
Artist in Residence, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
Artist Fellowship, Artist Trust Foundation, Seattle, WA
Individual Artist Projects Grant, 4Culture, Seattle, WA
2010
Grant Jury Panelist, Jack Straw Foundation, Seattle, WA
2009
Artist in Residence, Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007
Inclusion in The Curated Artist Registry, White Columns, New York, NY
2006
Grant Jury Panelist, Artist Trust Foundation, Seattle, WA
Guest Lecturer, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
2005
Guest Lecturer, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
2003
Guest Lecturer, South Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA
2001
Guest Lecturer, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
1999
Best of Festival, ArtsEdge Festival, Seattle, WA
Best of the Northwest Video Program, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
1998
Best of Festival, ArtsEdge Festival, Seattle, WA
Best of the Northwest Video Program, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
1997
Award, "Visions of the U.S.", American Film Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Bibliography
2019
Turner, Matt, “Art within the machine”, Sight & Sound Magazine, April 2nd
2017
Rachel Weber, “How are Residents of 'GTA V' Setting San Andreas Dealing With Inauguration Day?”, glixel, January 20th
Gita Jackson, “Twitch Stream Follows Five GTA V NPCs Wherever They Go, No Matter What They Do”, Kotaku, January 20th
Tina Amini, “Livestream follows 'GTA' characters around San Andreas”, Mashable, January 20th
Matteo Bittanti, “Game Art: Brent Watanabe's San Andreas Community Cam (2017)”, Gamescenes, January 20th
2016
Young, Nora, “Running with the Grand Theft Auto deer” (radio interview), CBC, April 10th
Ward, Mark, “Grand Theft Auto deer causes chaos in game world”, BBC, March 24th
Feldman, Brian, “The Grand Theft Auto Deer is Mesmerizing”, New York Magazine, March 23rd
Rundle, Michael, “Watching an AI deer wander GTA V is strangely hypnotic”, Wired, March 21st
Gerwin, Daniel, “The Immortal Deer an Artist Set Loose in Grand Theft Auto”, Hyperallergic, March 29th
Priestman, Chris, “What The 24-hour Deer Dam in GTA V Tells Us About The Game”, KILL SCREEN, March 28th
Plante, Chris, “Watch an invincible deer on the loose in Grand Theft Auto 5”, The Verge, March 21st
Plunkett, Luke, “Modded Deer Is Running Buck Wild In GTA V”, kotaku.com, March 20th
Smith, Adam, “Artificial Life: Grand Theft Auto V’s Live Deer Webcam”, Rock Paper Shotgun, March 21st
Boult, Adam, “Wandering deer wreaks havoc in Grand Theft Auto game world”, The Telegraph, March 24th
Bittanti, Matteo, “Game Art: Brent Watanabe's 'San Andreas Streaming Deer Cam'”, GAMESCENES, March 21st
Graves, Jen, “5 Things You Shouldn't Miss Out of the 5 Million Today*: Art Fair Madness Starts Now”, The Stranger, August 4th
2013
Visnjic, Filip, “for(){};-Mapped video game on canvas”, CreativeApplications.Net, March 17th
Prosthetic Knowledge, “Prosthetic Knowledge Picks: The Gaming Canvas”, RHIZOME, May 1st
Wilson, Mark, “An Arty Videogame Explores Infinity From The Gallery Walls”, Fast Company (fastcodesign.com), April 30th
Hernandez, Patricia, “You Play This Video Game On A Painting, Using An NES Controller”, kotaku.com, April 23rd
Cush, Andy, “FOR(){};, AN UNWINNABLE VIDEO GAME PROJECTION-MAPPED TO A PAINTING”, Animal NY, April 17th
Bittanti, Matteo, “Game Art: Brent Watanabe's "for(){};”, gamescenes.org, March 22nd
2011
Graves, Jen, “The Police Call The Tune”, The Stranger, October 18th
Graves, Jen, “Games Artists Play”, The Stranger, September 20
2010
Graves, Jen, “Against Transcendence”, The Stranger, March 2
Guppy, Nancy, “Art Zone with Nancy Guppy”, Seattle Channel, aired February 26
Upchurch, Michael, “Wing Luke exhibit pushes video's boundaries all over the place”, The Seattle Times, January 28th
2009
Delaurenti, Christopher, “Banshee Improv, Fluxus, and Birds That Emote in Morse Code”, The Stranger, December 15
Upchurch, Michael, “Brent Watanabe's 'So Long' blends low- and high-tech”, The Seattle Times, November 13
Vroom, Steven, “Only an Eye”, Capitol Hill Times, November 10
Upchurch, Michael, “'Kerfuffle' is a beautiful way of looking at the mess we're in”, The Seattle Times, September 4th
2008
Grant, Adriana, “Brent Watanabe at McLeod Residence”, The Seattle Weekly, October 22
Guppy, Nancy, “Art Zone with Nancy Guppy”, Seattle Channel, aired October 2
2006
Lippens, Nate, "'Malfunction' has more than a ghost of a chance to be a hit", The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 22
Mudede, Charles, "Flashes, Flushes, Flows of Noises", The Stranger, December 19
Cassidy, Laura, "Killer Apps", Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, December Issue
2003
Arning, Bill, "Thrift Store Tape #3", Aspect Magazine, The Chronicle of New Media, Volume 2
2000
Im, Soyon, "There's no place like...", Seattle Weekly, August 16
1998
Rose, Cynthia, "Alternative Art, A New Accounting" (interview and photo), The Seattle Times, December 17