The Daily Beast: "Bravo’s Addictive Work of Art"

The art-world reality competition, Work of Art, with its oddball artists, overly harsh judges, and a terrifically animated mentor has become must-see television.

Let’s be honest: Many of us watch reality television to fulfill a voyeuristic need to peer into other people’s lives, and to perhaps feel better about our own. The staggering success of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise would seem to prove this, just as, similarly, the cable channel’s reality shows tap this universal human need within the context of competition.

We’ve seen pastry chefs break down about Red Hots, fashion designers make competitors’ mothers cry (Project Runway’s Jeffrey Sebelia, we’re looking at you), but the drama has perhaps never seemed quite so real or the participants quite so tortured as the artists on Bravo’s highly addictive Work of Art, currently airing its second season Wednesday nights at 9 p.m.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest story, "Bravo’s Addictive Work of Art," in which I look at the unexpected pleasures to be found in Bravo's art competition series.

Work of Art: The Search for the Next Great Artist airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT.