Friday favorites: "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist"

I know....I know.  Yes, I love BravoTV's reality series Work of Art: The Next Great Artist (the title gets awkwardly long sometimes).  I was a dedicated viewer last year and I have been impatiently waiting for the new season to begin.


Here are the reasons I love it and why I think you will  too:

1) Artists are unique and often quirky people.  Something happens when you put 14 of them in a room together and say "Now, go create a masterpiece!".  The clash of ego and insecurity is hard to look away from.  It manifests itself into a completely different result than typical reality shows- you see it in the artwork, not the typical shouting match or "catfight".

painting done by Abdi Farah

One of the pieces from Peregrine Honig's final collection

Self portrait by Ryan Shultz

Installation by Miles Mendenhall

2) You get an inside look at the judges' reactions to the artwork, and can compare your own experience with theirs.  It is very eye opening to see how every person's reaction to a piece of art is wholly their own.  It is absolutely the number one reason why I love art so much.  

The judges panel is made up of (from left to right):
Jerry Saltz- Senior art critic for New York magazineSimon De Pury- (mentor) Chairman and Chief Auctioneer of Phillips De Pury & Company , the leading global auction house for contemporary art, design and photography China Chow- (host and judge) Lifelong art collector
Bill Powers- Owner of Half Gallery in New York City along with partners James Frey and Andy Spade



3) My favorite part- You get to see the artist's process in developing an idea and then executing their piece.  This is the part of the show I am the most interested in.  I love knowing the intention behind an artists' work and seeing all of the unique ways they choose to convey their idea to the audience.  The choice of medium, size, color etc. all has a purpose.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist premieres October 12th 9/8 central on Bravo.