Heading into the fourth episode on Wednesday night, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist has provided a few surprises. Despite a lackluster beginning, auctioneer Simon de Pury has come into his own as a coach, dispensing genuinely helpful advice. On the other hand, Jerry Saltz has yet to emerge. The editing of his remarks has to be brutal.
If this were Saltz before editing:
This would be him after:
(Both images details from Drew Daly’s altered photographs via Greg Kucera Gallery)
In my previous post about this show, From
Bravo: the next barely adequate artist, I wrote that the show would depend on Saltz. Wrong. Others have emerged in the forefront, and by that I mean the artists. Out of 14, four shouldn’t be there, and three are gone. (One to go.) The rest are capable of working within the framework of a reality TV show and putting their stamp on it, and I love that they can’t be counted on to stand there and be judged.
Best line from the show still belongs to Nao Bustamante, who told the judges on the first episode, “I’m not responsible for your experience of my work.” On the second episode, artist Miles Mendenhall went further. Refusing to accept that the judges are the only ones whose opinions matter, he joined the panel to offer his own. For making an entirely accurate remark about the work of another contestant, he has drawn ire from critics, naturally enough. Judgments are their job. On Culture Monster, critic David Ng called Mendenhall an “emo-hipster backstabber.” Why? Because Mendenhall said something smarter than anyone else in the room.
Ng also noted that Mendenhall “talks endlessly about his obsessive-compulsive disorder and chronic insomnia.” On this show, it’s impossible to say who talks endlessly and who makes a couple of necessary observations. It’s called editing.
Speaking of chatter, there’s a lot of it currently about OCD. People who are a little distracted claim it, as if it were an honor. Mendenhall has it. Ng appears to have nothing but contempt for the artist, even though he’s moving mountains to make his appearances.
Personally, I’m sad to see someone that young and afflicted struggle with what looks like an untreated disability. Isn’t this the 21st Century? I’m also thinking of Tobias Wong. And I’m thinking of my father, a paranoid-schizophrenic novelist who self-medicated with alcohol and still managed to be both a terrific dad and artist. Such careers are necessarily short. I’d like to think there’s more help out there now, but I don’t see it.
On a lighter note, the excellent Sharon L. Butler (Two Coats of Paint) is hosting her own version of Work of Art on facebook.
Artists who criticize each other in front of the judges seem sketchy to me.