I’ve been hearing a lot of mysterious talk lately about Bravo’s “icky” artist reality show. The details are beyond murky. We know that Sarah Jessica Parker is the executive producer. We know that hundreds are responding to the casting calls. And so far, we know only one of the judges: Simon de Pury, chairman of the fancy-pants auction company Phillips de Pury. Otherwise, we simply know that it’ll be mayhem. Let’s just hope it’s not too embarrassing for the artists.
Mr. de Pury, on the other hand, had “no hesitations about accepting the invitation” to be a judge. He hopes the show will help penetrate the “hermetic inapproachability” of contemporary art. I won’t question his motives, but … really, dude? Is reality TV an acceptable solution to the art world’s reputation for obscurity?
Perhaps the video above provides a taste of what’s to come. Mr. and Mrs. Foox are a husband and wife artist team. He’s a transplant from New Zealand and a former lawyer. She greets the camera at the front door — holding a crossbow. “Welcome to Texas,” says Mr. Foox. (Another shot shows them shooting guns together, after teaching painting to amateurs.) How adorable!
It’s an episode of what’s to be an ongoing internet reality show. Nothing quite on the scale of what Bravo has in mind, of course. It just makes me wonder: Does dropping your life to become an artist always inspire you to be so damn positive? Believe. Hope. Change. It’s almost like they’re Barack Obama campaign robots (or, “Obamatons” as I’ve read elsewhere) ….
“How do you go from struggling, emerging or even semi-established artist to selling a complete show for $198 million? It’s a big art world out there, but maybe this is one place to start!”
This is the opening line from the casting page for Bravo’s latest foray into reality TV — an elimination show a la “Top Chef,” “The Fashion Show,” etc. The press release continues:
Magical Elves (Peabody Award-winning Project Runway, Emmy Award-winning Top Chef) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winner) and her production company, Pretty Matches, are teaming up for an hour-long creative competition series among aspiring contemporary artists who will create and compete to conquer the art world!
As a watcher of some of the most questionable TV currently on air (reality and otherwise), I have to admit that this concept makes me feel kinda icky. And not the good icky that you get from watching 60 minutes of fake-baked real New Jersey housewife. But maybe I’m being too idealistic. PSFK.com puts it well, saying,
While there is no reason the art world should be exempt from the reality TV show madness which has engulfed everything from the modeling business to the hairdressing industry, for some the fine arts still seemed like the last genuine refuge for creative expression. However, the fact that many of the world’s top arts institutions have been strained to the point of collapse by the current economic recession, and are most likely in dire need of capital, might explain the willingness for established galleries to attach themselves to such a dubious project.
What kind of artists/personalities, do you think, would make this show worth watching?
