“Street Art Throwndown” host, Justin Bua

Well, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist and Gallery Girls weren’t exactly mainstream hits but people are interested in becoming famous, and art is just another way of getting there. Enter Oxygen‘s new reality competition Street Art Throwdown, starting February 3. It will follow these 10 aspiring street artists as they compete for the $100,000 grand prize. According to the press release:

“The series tests not only their physical stamina, but also pushes their artistic skills to the limit in hopes of jump-starting their career…furiously scaling walls, climbing fences and navigating underground tunnels, these artists must have the talent, style and hustle to battle it out to the end.”

Commercial artist Justin Bua, who Oxygen says is known for his fine art posters and clients like Nike and Target (never heard of him) is host and co-judge alongside Lauren Wagner, the director of Pop International Galleries. Not exactly on the same level as art critic Jerry Saltz and dealer Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, among others, from “work of Art”. What, Shepard Fairey said no? And the whole idea that you need money or the established art world’s recognition seems to be the antithesis of street art. But hey, this is TV and fame is a drug. Rod Aissa, Oxygen’s executive VP of programming says:

“Street Art is the most accessible art form there is— it takes art out of the galleries and into our everyday surroundings with themes reflecting our social and political climate as well as fun, vibrant, and bold forms of self-expression from those who create it.”

It’s worth a watch of episode 1, but I feel already this could be a recipe for disaster. But we sure have enough reality shows based on nothing, so I’m all for watching a show about making art –unless it’s bad. Check out the preview here.

(via Artnet)