Art meets reality

Rejection comes like a gut punch on reality television.

"Miles, you are an amazing artist, but you are not the winner," declared judge China Chow, sending Minnesota talent Miles Mendenhall packing in the finale of "Work of Art," Bravo's fast-paced, 10-part gloss on the cutthroat world of contemporary art.

Mendenhall vanquished 11 other competitors to come in third in a competition that was mostly filmed last fall in New York City. In the final episode, which aired a week and a half ago, he and two other finalists presented three months' worth of their new art as it might be displayed in a museum show.

The winner, Abdi Farah, got $100,000 and the chance to exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, where his work is now on view through Oct. 17. Second place went to Kansas City sculptor Peregrine Honig.

The choice of Farah, a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, surprised some art-world followers of the show because his figurative style, built on traditional Renaissance drawing skills, is not at all fashionable in sophisticated art circles today.

Compared with Farah's warmly humanistic images, Mendenhall's cool conceptual and geometric work is much more akin to what's regularly shown at Walker Art Center and other contemporary venues from Manhattan to Mumbai. But a Bravo judge criticized the lack of heart in the Minnesotan's work, observing, "It looks like art, but what is it saying?"

Twin Cities artist Clea Felien, who watched the final episode with 200 other art mavens at the University of Minnesota's Regis Center for Art, was surprised by the judges' pick.

"Abdi's work is very personal, but not trendy, and I thought the judges would go for trendy," she said.

One judge who clearly favored Mendenhall admitted on air that he'd done his best to get Farah booted out. Midway through the final episode, Simon de Pury, the Swiss gallery owner and auctioneer who served as the artists' coach, even warned Farah to steer clear of academic work. The judges want to be dazzled, De Pury said, and great drawing and painting are not dazzling. "Your advantage -- and your handicap -- is your skill," De Pury cautioned.

Pseudo reality

With its arbitrary mix of money, power, strange behavior and fabulous shoes, the art world is catnip for the video anthropology that is reality TV.

Shot in a well-equipped Manhattan warehouse that served as a hothouse studio for the 14 participants, "Work of Art" delivered on its promise of offering a peek into a madcap art scene. Jurors were well connected, legitimate, and in the case of Chow -- who appeared in bustier cocktail dresses at dawn -- drop-dead gorgeous. The artists hit myriad demographic targets of age (23-62), ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic, Asian), geography (eight states and Vietnam) and aesthetics (painting to performance art). The challenges -- for example, to make shocking art or something inspired by nature or by an Audi showroom -- were demanding enough to stump the artists occasionally.

And while competitors often helped one another out, some carved one another up. When judges praised Mendenhall's work as simple, direct and engaging, competitor Erik Johnson (who was booted early on) said, "Miles is completely manipulative" and "his art is garbage."

Mendenhall, who frequently came to others' aid, was philosophical. "You have to have a certain ego to participate but also an understanding of the fragility of the ego," he said recently. "A lot of care is put into what others think of us."

Thumbs down, and up

The show averaged more than 1 million viewers weekly, but they weren't all pleased by what they saw.

Asked her opinion, Walker Art Center Director Olga Viso, a "sporadic" viewer, e-mailed this critique: "Does 'Work of Art' capture in a few, highly orchestrated hours what it means to be a creative individual engaged with complex ideas and a lifelong pursuit and practice? I would have to say no, quite emphatically. When reduced to its entertainment value, a lot gets lost in translation."

Local artists were more charitable. Yes, the show reinforced stereotypes, but the talent was impressive and the winner so sincere that "I'm really happy with the result," said David Pederson after the U of M screening.

Mendenhall has no regrets and said he'd do it again. "The show was just a starting point, and I still feel I'm growing off that work," he said.

Winner Farah gave his mom the prize money to manage, but said in an interview that he is thinking of moving from Pennsylvania to New York to capitalize on the Brooklyn exhibit and his new opportunities.

The show posed important questions about art today, he said, including: Should art reflect contemporary life? Is commercial art aesthetically valid? Can artists from the show be taken seriously? Is art made for reality TV authentic?

"I think this show gave a resounding 'yes' to all those questions," Farah said.

Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431