Our intrepid correspondent, Kenny Schachter, tunes into the latest reality TV show set in the art world:
I am like so stoked to catch the new reality TV show entitled Gallery Girls. Like wow! I am so excited to slip on my Jimmy Choos and really discover something about art and the art market. Come along for the ride, I’m sure we all have a few things to learn. The slight problem being that Bravo is restricted in my jurisdiction and I don’t have capacity to view just yet, still waiting for word if there is a way around this. Otherwise, can someone Skype me and we can watch (suffer) together in real time? Maybe I am lucky I can’t watch, this is like writing a book report without having read the book but I think I get the picture!
From what I’ve read, apparently one has the propensity to go topless according to a preview, so perhaps the cards are…stacked; for anyone worth their salt in art knows how to get ahead—with gratuitous nudity! Too bad Lucien Freud is dead, she could have interned for him too. Interning is the key phrase, as these girls seem utterly incapable of securing a job other than to work for free. One girl is the daughter of mega collector Marty Margulies, seeking, in her own words, a role of her own outside of sphere of daddy’s influence. Call him Mortified Marty for now on. Sadly, I don’t foresee much of a role for art in this program, other than for a few cameos.
What we seem to have is yet another reductive ploy, in the name of art, to reach out to the lowest denominator, and we are talking low, like playing handball against a curb (sorry, couldn’t resist). This could have been a lot more, like the market mocking itself, which would amount to much better programming. Instead, we are faced with something far more insidious: a new form of lowbrow entertainment couched in name of art, but they left out the art! It’s nothing more than a little T&A, in this instance, Tits and Art.
