The Real (Art) World
June/July 2006
By Constance Wyndham

After the plethora of reality television shows bombarding our screens in recent years, featuring everything from top fashion models who critique wannabes to cleaning ladies who scrutinize the level of cleanliness in your home, it was surely only a matter of time before the camera turned its focus on the art world. Dreamed up by New York-based curator James Fuentes and artist Christopher Sperandio and starring art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, “Artstar” is a documentary- style reality show about the New York art world and its perennial search for a new phenom.

Produced by Abby Terkuhle of Aboriginal Entertainment, who made his name with such MTV favorites as “Beavis and Butthead” and “Celebrity Deathmatch,” “Artstar” premieres on June 1 at 9 pm edt on Gallery HD, a visual arts channel available nationwide on Dish Network (channel 9472). The show follows eight artists who were selected from an open call. Filmed over eight episodes, the cast collaborates on a group exhibition at Deitch Projects, with the potential of a solo show for one “artstar.”

One chilly morning in February 2005, a queue of more than 300 potential stars snaked through SoHo, each eagerly waiting to show five artworks to the judges: Fuentes; Deitch; Carlo McCormick, independent curator and senior editor of Paper magazine; critic David Rimanelli; Debra Singer, director of The Kitchen; and artist Ryan McGinness. The process was ruthless and the atmosphere tense, with each artist given only a few minutes to explain his or her work. During the second round, one nervous painter was nearly reduced to tears, causing Rimanelli to quip, “The art world will be your salvation.” She did not make the cut. The final group of eight comprises interesting characters working in a diverse range of mediums, including a performance artist/doctor who promises to genetically engineer the next art-world darling, a sculptor from Brooklyn’s Madagascar Institute who works with bicycles, a 63-year-old woodcarver, a transvestite photographer and a builder of card houses.

During filming, some particularly alert galleries began to court one of the artists, Bec Stupak, so Deitch responded by giving her a solo show. Her wild, colorful videos, including a remake of Jack Smith’s 1963 film Flaming Creatures, filled the gallery’s space on Grand Street (Jan. 12-Feb. 25). There is some secrecy about the final outcome of the series, and according to producers at Gallery HD, Stupak is not necessarily the winner. “Artstar” may make good television, but one wonders if it will really turn artists into stars.