We’re halfway between the Hirshhorn and the MTVs The Exhibition: In Search of the Next Great Artist, and while the final episode, airing tonight at 10 p.m. EST, was more tolerable, the formula is tired and even more bogged down by syrupy sugar contestants and benign review sessions. Contrary to what we see in America’s Next Top Model, it seems like everyone came here to make friends, which, while cute, doesn’t exactly make for good TV. (Warning: some spoilers below!)
In episode three, Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu and show host Dometi Pongo tasked the artists with developing a “commission” (what they call the artwork made for each competition…lol ) responding to the coronavirus pandemic, specifically “how you are surviving, or maybe even thriving, right now. But not before Chiu pressed several hot buttons on the keyboard of the relevant virtue signaling speaking of an exhibition she co-curated at the start of the pandemic and shoehorning into a reference to Shirin Neshat.
In this round, artists were again allowed 10 hours of studio time over two days, but only a few delivered. As expected, self-taught painter Jennifer Warren found a huge canvas to use for another half-baked painting that could have been great with an extra week of work, and Jillian Mayer fashioned another amorphous, muddy-colored blob sculpture. While Mayer’s competition works are fairly uniform in style, she plays with scale and function in the background, and she used mushrooms as an anchor for the concepts of biodegradation and connectivity in this order. .
Finally strutting between concept and technique, Jamaal Barber thrived in this episode, but I have to admit that the scene of his emotional breakdown over the loss of his mentor, George Nock, was really intrusive and a bit faded. I’m sure it was edited by the producers with the intention of peeling back the layers of masculinity and embracing the processing of emotions, but I felt it was inappropriately making a show of his heartache. a way that does not match the series. – established a high moral ground. It was endearing to see the rest of the contestants hold Barber and sympathize with him, though.
This week’s guest judges were art writer and sociologist Sarah Thornton, who sits midway between Paula Abdul in american idol and Deborah Czeresko of Breath on the Crit-O-Meter, and returning judge Kenny Shachter who is there for reasons I have yet to identify. In fact, I found myself agreeing more with the jury’s assessments in this episode than in the last two.
I thought Clare Kambhu’s series of abstract paintings was really beautiful and it was exciting to see her more as an artist than an educator, but I think she had a unique perspective existing in the system school during the pandemic and it was a missed opportunity to explore the impacts of social distancing and disrupted learning on his students.
As the show’s jack-of-all-trades, Misha Kahn won points for his Yves Tanguy x SOPHIE lovechild virtual reality painting that married the solitude of his digital practice with the chaos of a Minnesota family dinner. , leaving me puzzled as to why he didn’t. use the VR headset for the social media challenge in the first place. Baseera Khan’s incomplete and uncomfortable quilt garnered only a handful of milquetoast reviews, and the judges quickly topped Frank Buffalo Hyde’s abstract Haudenosaunee flag painting to my disappointment.
The overly powerful, extra-supportive cast dynamic dissolves all of the show’s real elements of competition, and Chiu’s bland camera presence and Hillary Clinton’s signature smile and gaze combo don’t help boost either. tension (in addition to overwhelming discomfort on my part). It just feels like there are no real stakes here despite a huge prize and sought-after exposure opportunity. I think maybe a more aggressive guest judge could help ignite the fire the show desperately needs… Deborah Czereskothe contact details of ?
For a six-episode show, I was hoping the third episode would stir the pot a bit more, but all we got was an uncomfortable scene of Barber dealing with heartbreak by tossing a stool aside. The show hinted at a collaboration challenge which I hope will materialize in the next one or two episodes, but for now I remain disappointed and fighting for more screen time and flowers for Frank Buffalo Hyde.
