Work of Art: The Next Great Artist is Bravo’s new reality show in the vein of Top Chef and Project Runway (which, of course, is now on Lifetime). The show exactly what it sounds like–they take a bunch of artists, give them topics/assignments and judge the final products. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out. Were creative artists really going to have enough time to make something spectacular? Can you really judge art on a television show? In the first episode at least, the answer to both questions was yes.
I love contemporary art and this show was awesome. We see the artists work, see their thought processes, see what they have to say about each other, and then what the critics have to say about them. What surprised me about this was how much this show is like Project Runway–the cattiness, the drama, the quirky personalities. I guess that’s because similar personality types try out for these kinds of shows.
So what makes this show different from the other ones? Well for one thing, the products being created on this show can’t really be purchased by average people. You could say that was true for high fashion or fine dining, but really–who’s going to buy or covet a weird portrait nude portrait of an artist? Maybe collectors. Or really big fans of the show. Also, the judges don’t seem to have the same star quality of the judges on the other shows (Heidi? Padma? Tim?). Another thing–because art is meant to be provocative, I anticipate that viewer may have strong reactions to this TV show and some may be highly offended by some of the artwork they are going to air (or maybe they won’t air some things).
But unlike Top Chef, where you don’t get to eat the food, you do at least get to see and appreciate the artwork more fully (not from all angles or up close, but I do have a pretty large screen on my TV…) rather than just hearing what the judges have to say about it.
All in all this is another masterpiece (ha ha) of a reality TV show from Bravo. What’s next? Top Blogger? Top Poet? Okay. I think writing is one form of expression that isn’t going to make good TV. (Even though, if you think about it, it is a very visual medium) Song writing maybe? Photography? There are photographers on this show, but if you just have photographers I can see the challenges–fashion photography, portraits, a wedding challenge, landscapes..etc. But I digress.
Final Verdict–Totally awesome show! Just as fun (so far) as Project Runway and Top Chef!
