Bravo Does Art

Bravo has done it again — this time with the help of Sarah Jessica Parker. The channel has given viewers a glimpse into the fashion world with Project Runway, the culinary world with Top Chef and the evidently serious hairstyling world with Shear Genius. There's nothing left but the art world.

The channel, known for trying to transform reality television into cutthroat competition of individuality and endurance, will debut its new brainchild, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist on June 9. Parker's production company Pretty Matches combined creative forces with two Top Chef producers to deliver this familiar plot in a new industry.

Work of Art follows an identical format to those of Runway and Chef: Contestants are given outlandish challenges, they cry and run around frantically, and then harsh judges rip apart the finished products. The only difference this time is that artists, who are possibly more eccentric and undeniably weird than fashion designers and chefs, are dictating the drama.
The 14 contestants represent a wide range of those trying to make it big in the art world. Sixty-two-year-old Judith hails from Albany, N.Y., and earned her art degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1965. Trong, born and raised in Vietnam, is in the process of creating a "metaphysical GPS" application for the iPhone. Peregrine, a 33-year-old sculptor from San Francisco, owns a lingerie boutique on the side.
The judges, who will be crushing the hopes of 13 of these contestants and granting the dream of one, are big names in the industry. Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Bill Powers own the galleries Salon 94 and Half Gallery, respectively. Simon de Pury is one of the field's top auctioneers and aficionados. Wrapping up the list is art critic Jerry Saltz, a columnist for New York magazine.

After triumphing the show's expectedly wacky challenges, the winner of Work of Art gets a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and a generous $100,000.When asked how Bravo got the prestigious Brooklyn Museum to agree to a solo exhibition for an unknown reality show winner, producer Dan Cutforth said, "We just asked them." Judge Saltz followed up with, "Who knew it was that easy? You should all be asking for shows." Let's hope they don't, or else the trend will never stop. No one wants there to be The Thinker: The Search for the Next Great Philosopher.