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"FacebookPinterest\n\nTonight, a new reality show Work of Art premiers on Bravo at 11pm ET/PT. The format is similar to Project Runway \u2014 fourteen artists living together and competing for a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and a cash prize of $100,000. But this show promises to be different.\n\nOne of the judges, Bill Powers, tells us why:\n\nDo you think the show is an accurate depiction of the contemporary art world right now?\n\n With the art world there are so many -- there\u2019s not just any one Art World. But I think to a larger audience it\u2019s a gateway drug to fine art.\n\nI think if you look at what\u2019s happening right now, culturally and financially, this week we saw that Picasso go for 106 million, breaking all previous records for a single work at auction. The combination of that with Kende Wile collaborating with Puma, Garry Hume working with Marni, and all of the other fashion-artist collaborations that have come before, I think art is in the air...\n\nThere is a latent interest in contemporary art but it\u2019s just something that you never really see on television. And so people have never really had that access [to fine art] before. So I think this is a good platform for people to participate and learn about art and hopefully we\u2019ll spur them on to learn more.\n\nHow did you feel when one of the contestants argued with the judges in the first episode?\n\n I think that, out of all the competition reality shows maybe the way that these people are participating they are making themselves the most vulnerable. For example, when you are cooking a meal, you are not really laying that much of yourself on the line in terms of vulnerability. And maybe not that much with a dress either, but sometimes a painting or a photograph \u2014 especially if it\u2019s a self-portrait or something that touches on your own history or has some biographical element to it \u2014 I think that can be pretty scary to put that out there.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nEspecially on national television. That\u2019s an interesting point, actually. The format of the show creates an interesting interaction between the artist and the viewer, because the process of each artist is revealed.\n\n And I think that\u2019s pretty unique, because I think usually people only see the after-picture. We don\u2019t get to see that moment of inception and I think that\u2019s where the magic of it is.\n\nWill the show influence the art world?\n\n It\u2019s really just pulling back the curtain in a lot of ways. And I think the experience of what we did walking through the show with the artists is very much akin to if you went to a grad school and did a walk through of a thesis show with the peer to peer review. I think it\u2019s very similar to that experience and very authentic in that way. And in terms of the themes, there\u2019s always themed shows going on whether it\u2019s the &amp;quot;Haunted&amp;quot; show at the Guggenheim right now or I think PS1 had a show called &amp;quot;Gold&amp;quot; once that was all artists that somehow were riffing off that theme. So I think in terms of the show having a themed group show, like we do week to week, that that\u2019s very much true to the spirit of what you see on a curator level.\n\nDo you think the show will affect any of the artists\u2019 careers?\n\n I think that remains to be seen. For whatever people say about competition shows, Susan Boyle did okay with her music career. And it seems like a lot of the Top Chef participants have done okay with their restaurants. So why not.\n\nDo you think the show is Andy Warhol\u2019s 15-minutes of fame realized?\n\n I think he would definitely have this on DVR for sure.\n\n I like the Jerry Saltz quote, \u2019in the future 15 people will be famous...\u2019 But, yes, if you go back and re-read the philosophy of Andy Warhol I think he said something like \u2019once I got a television I realized I didn\u2019t need as many good friends\u2019\n\nIs there anything else?\n\n Honestly, out of all the people who are involved - whether it\u2019s Simone de Pury or Jeanne Greenberg - that are involved with selling artwork, this show is probably the closest to my level, in that I deal often with unknowns in my gallery. And so for me it was just like doing a studio visit with someone who I\u2019m considering giving a show to. Whereas Jeanne is selling pieces for millions of dollars and has Marilyn Minter or Rashid Johnson or people who have traction and a name for themselves in the artworld.\n\n And Paul Graham... If you had to summarize, what kind of perspective did you bring to the show?\n\n I think, as opposed to Simone or Jeanne, who have more traditional and respectable backgrounds in training or education on that front, it\u2019s kind of nice to bring in that man on the street point of view.\n\n Bill Powers, a self-proclaimed &amp;quot;art fan, &amp;quot; is the co-owner of Half Gallery in New York and the editor-at-large for Purple Fashion magazine.\n\nThe Artists\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nAbdi, 23, Hometown: Baltimore, MD\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nAmanda, 35, Hometown: Chicago, IL\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nJohn, 40, Hometown: Dekalb IL\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nJudith, 62, Hometown: Albany, NY\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nMark, 32, Hometown: Santa Maria, CA\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nMiles, 23, Hometown: Minneapolis, MN\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nNao, 40, Hometown: San Joaquin, CA\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nNicole, 25, Hometown: New York, NY\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nPeregrine, 33, Hometown: San Francisco, CA\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nRyan, 27, Hometown: Libertyville, IL\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nTrong, 38, Hometown: Saigon, Vietnam"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/work-of-art-the-next-great-artist>