reviews, features & interviews
Art reality show? Bravo! or not
By libby
July 3, 2009 · 14 Comments
If you were praying for a Project Runway for artists, your prayers have been answered. Bravo is now casting a reality show with emerging and mid-career visual artists.
But Bravo has missed the boat on its casting call locations. Not Philly??? Yo guys, Philly’s the spot.
So if you want to try out for this thing, you’ll have to shlep to that backwater New York City, or else LA, Miami or Chicago.
Here’s the press release info:
[The show is] an hour-long creative competition series among aspiring contemporary artists who will create and compete to conquer the art world!
If you’re an emerging or mid-career visual artist with a unique, powerful voice that demands a bigger stage – well. . . Here. It. Is.
We want contemporary artists. Your medium could be one of many (or several of many) – painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, mixed-media – we want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know.
*To be considered for the cast, attend one of our four regional casting calls around the country, see below.*
Go to www.BravoTV.com/casting to download an application and see what you need to bring with you to an open call.
I wish you good luck. It’s not much of a surprise given the hottie artists looking for a break who pose and posture in the fashion and style magazine sections in the New York Times. In these tough financial times, though, anything is worth a try–well almost anything. So break and leg and knock ‘em dead in Peoria.
Readers Comments (14)
disgusting. but i guess it was inevitable. of course i will watch it though. who could be more desperate and self absorbed than reality tv stars? contemporary artists, of course. not all of them, mind you, but we all know they won’t have to look far to find a superb cast.
glad they’re not coming to philly. they will find plenty of assholes in new york.
if you have any self respect, if you have any passion for art other than fame/fortune/embarrassment, do not sign up for this.
Hi, Greg, I know lots of people share your sentiments. But I think it’s better to have a sense of humor about this. Sure it’s silly. But if anyone I know is on it, I’ll watch. btw, I think Project Runway is great!
I don’t know that this can possibly be good for art. But it might be good for an artist or five.
I don’t know how I feel about this, but it does bring up many questions about how this competition is going to develop into a show. Are the contestants making the work during the show or are they using existing pieces? Will they have to dive into a big pile of trash and fight it out like on Project Runway to make a sculpture? I can see tons of humorous possibilities for this show based on the reality tv model.
It could be entertaining for the masses and it is a post-modernism concept pushed to the next level. I still don’t know if it is a good idea for the artists involved in this project, but it might turn them into the next Andy Warhol. We shall see . . .
I work on the same floor as the Sullivan Galleries at SAIC. I think I will walk through the lobby on my way to work to see if anyone that I know shows up.
Hi, Sam, I got the impression that there would be a contest a la project runway. But the whole idea of competing under timepressure with art work just boggles my mind. Who will be the judges. Will some gallerist with a German accent declare, “You’re out?”
Creating,promoting and critiquing works of art on American television once a week for two and a half months can only mean that a new breed of visual artists are about to be born (arts new detail).What happens to the art when the personality of the artist becomes cult? tv will indeed kill the gallery star(but only with affections from the viewer).Can the artists maximize their alchemy with a constant diet of cameras,overly bright lights and program staff interrupting them for interviews? who owns the art created on the show,the corporation,the artist or both? If the art is owned by the corporation,is this the first corporate visual art collection created on and for American television?
The emergence of visual art into mainstream television programming is a victory for all living and dead artists.This show will seed the minds of millions of children and a small percentage of those children will take the option of art life seriously,ensuring the tradition will continue with or without economy.
I can’t believe this is bad for art or artists. Art needs to lighten up anyway and get back with the people, and here is tv kicking it into the masses come what may. There’s a self-selection on who wants to be on these types of programs…people with big egos and lots of character quirks….sounds perfect for many artists actually. I do think, Cory, that the corporation that sponsors the art-making will be the owner of the art made, and that turns the corporation into more than a collector… it makes the corporation a kind of modern day Medicis, commissioning art for whatever wall or whim it has for it.
I think this will be a blip on the pop culture radar, something that will not have staying power in the long run. And then we’ll be back to top models, designers and gladiators. So the long-lasting impact on the art world is negligable–it’s a summer fling for the viewers and all involved.
I think Roberta’s comment makes a lot of sense.
The show made me think of Phil Collins’ Return of the Real piece… Has anyone seen it in person? I’ve only read about it.
I loved Roberta’s Medici point. Hilarious. And why not?
Here’s a link to a post about Phil Collins’ piece, which I have not seen. http://contemporaryartwriting.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/phil-collins-and-video-art/
Too bad I couldn’t find the video itself.
And here’s a link to Art Fag City’s Q&A with the Bravo casting director for the show:
http://www.artfagcity.com/2009/07/02/magical-elves-casting-director-nick-gilhool-dishes-on-bravos-new-reality-show/
best idea ever, glad someone is finally doing this. ’tis bout time!
At least art is on the pop culture map. I for one think that’s a good place for it to be. Art for the people.
Shut the fuck up, arts purists. I get so sick of your whining. This exposes people to the arts. As an arts writer and an artist — a published arts writer — I’m happy when art gets promotion and publicity as it is good for everyone.
I hope you all check out that link Roberta posted to Art Fag City’s interview of the casting director. It was pretty interesting. If the model for this is Project Runway, which it seems to be, then it makes sense that the end game is a gallery show, just as on Project Runway it’s an important fashion show. But for me and the cause of art getting a wider audience, it’s the television exposure that really counts. I do get that for the artists it’s the gallery show that really counts, because that is how we have defined success/commerce in the art world. But really, I think that’s an old model. There are so many ways that artists are beginning to get their work out there sans gallery these days. This is just one more way to get work shown beyond the studio.
How about coming to Toronto? Per capita the art city of North America…
Eva