I wasn’t even a minute and a half into the fourth episode of MTV The exhibition: Finding the Next Great Artist when artist Jillian Mayer acknowledged that although it was a contest, she had a lot of friends on the show who she described as a “lovely bunch of talented creatives”. With just two episodes to go, not even the magic of friendship can rekindle the series’ heartbeat as competing artists tackled themes of justice and injustice during this week’s round. .
Honestly, this was the most lifeless episode so far, and it surprised me considering the personal practices of a number of competing artists who address intersectionality and minority perspectives. I think what made it so yawn-worthy was the fact that I haven’t seen any growth or inventiveness from the artists so far (with the exception of Jamaal Barber, who I will discuss later), but rather a stagnant reliance on existing skills, knowledge, and cannons to win the $100,000 prize and exposure to the Hirshhorn. It just becomes a pain to go through another episode knowing exactly what each artist is going to create before their time in the studio even begins.
The formula is that Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu stupidly reads her lines on cue cards, co-host Dometi Pongo uses his reality TV voice to convey the next challenge, painters paint and sculptors sculpt, then everyone comes together for the smallest of baby reviews. Everyone wants the challenge themes to work for their existing practices even if they are in the perfect environment to try something new and daring or embrace new influences because no one is eliminated from it anyway. the broadcast.
The fleeting climax of the episode that turned out to be completely anti-climactic was when expanding foam poured out of Misha Kahn’s inflatable dolphin pool toy for his Critically Endangered Species sculpture installation. of extinction. vaquita (which Kahn hesitated between pronouncing “vuh-quee-ta” and the proper “va-kee-ta”), a Californian porpoise he apparently only heard about a few weeks ago. I cringed a bit when Kahn, as a cisgender white male, said that animals are “the most marginalized group” because they “literally have no voice.” I mean, technically, he’s not wrong and my heart bleeds as much as the next person, but read the play, bestie.
Clare Kambhu has produced a large-scale oil and acrylic painting of standard school chairs seen from above, arranged in a semi-circle reminiscent of classroom discussions. “Are schools places of oppression, places where we can make meaningful change, or both?” Kambhu asks through his painting. (Hint: it’s both…) It was technically well done, but tired attached to it other chair paintings in a way that made it easy for me to gloss over. Jillian Mayer did a really DIY setup of how social media platforms capitalize on outrage-porn and hive minds, but somehow incorporated filter feeders and live goldfish…?
Frank Buffalo Hyde painted a landscape of the Granite Mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a sacred native site that was damaged beyond repair to create Mount Rushmore. I didn’t think his style translated so well in this painting, but I was puzzled when Chiu commented that the color blue is not usually associated with landscapes and when Judge Kenny Schachter returned, whose presence on the show remains a mystery, said it would never have occurred to him to consider Mount Rushmore anything more than a feat of human excellence until he spoke with Buffalo Hyde. I mean…yuck.
Jamaal Barber had the end of the stick this episode when he forgot to trust his vision. His brainchild of the commission was an abstract depiction of the state-sanctioned murder of Amadou Diallo, 23, a Guinean who was shot 41 times by the NYPD in 1999. Barber was the only one this week trying to do something something new. and heed the judges’ comments by straying from the portrait and figuration, but it was her beautifully painted faces that secured her win in episode three. I definitely give him credit for venturing outside of his comfort zone and exploring new methods and ideas.
And, as expected, Jennifer Warren did another flat, unrefined oil painting even though she very clearly can draw and that would have made more sense for the comic she was doing. Baseera Khan’s header didn’t feel like it was in the game this week and it showed in their work as well, which is unfortunate as I thought they would have knocked this one out of the park.
At the end of the day, if I can’t have the shadow drama, bullshit, and outrageous challenges, I just want to see something fresh and exciting from these artists. I won’t hold my breath though.
