Bravo, Nao Bustamante!
Yes, let’s just call it what it is – “American Idol” for artists.
“Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” – the latest “reality” TV competition – airs its premiere episode on the Bravo cable channel at 11pm on Wednesday.
And performance and video artist Nao Bustamante – who teaches New Media and Live Art at RPI in Troy – is among the 14 artists on the show competing for the grand prize – a solo exhibition at the prestigious Brooklyn Museum, as well as $100,000.
Actress/model/art fan China Chow is hosting the new series, and she’ll also serve on the panel of judges alongside Bill Powers (Half Gallery owner and literary art contributor), Jerry Saltz (art critic at New York Magazine) and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn (art curator and owner of Salon 94 gallery) and a different weekly celebrity judge.
In each episode, the 14 artists face the challenge of creating artworks in a variety of mediums – painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design.
On her website, Bustamante has also posted a helpful guide for “Work of Art” viewing parties. For instance, purchase a Nao Bustamante t-shirt – three different designs are currently available – and proudly wear it to the party to proclaim your allegiance. As Bustamante astutely points out, “Remember, I can’t sell out, if I don’t make money.”
In addition to the debut airing at 11pm Wednesday, the debut episode will also be shown at 2am Wednesday (really Thursday morning), 3am Saturday (Sunday morning) and 9am Sunday.
And if you happen to be out on the west coast later this month, Bustamante’s next art exhibition opens at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions in San Francisco on Saturday, June 19. The exhibit runs through Saturday, July 17.
Good luck, Nao. Nippertown is rootin’ for ya!
Thanks Nippertown! I need all the love I can get. Not sure if you’ve heard, but I’m the Villain! freaking out right now, xo, nao
That’s all right! We’ve often thought that conceptual art and professional wrestling were awfully similar. You could be the Iron Sheik of the Art World!!!
“Reality” TV is just as fake as pro wrestling thanks to the power of creative editing…
Villains are good! Masked Dad says everything is a work (wrestling term). Without it and a good storyline TV would be flopping around on the floor for hours at a time and it would get very boring. Then everyone would shut off their TVs and be forced to go outside and just sit on their front porch and watch the grass get crispy dry in the Global Warming Summer Sun.