The art world: money, intrigue, and bad TV
In a recent article, Michael H. Miller wrote about his dissatisfaction with Ovation media’s reality television show, “Art Breakers.” This is the latest attempt to create a reality television show about the art industry. If you are having trouble recalling a previous art-centered reality T.V. show that was successful, it is because these hits are far and few between.
Miller explains: “The big thing about the art world, [and] I think one of the reasons why a reality TV show about it hasn’t really worked yet, is that the whole business kind of lacks transparency by design. People don’t really like to talk about how the sausage gets made.” Due to that lack of transparency a lot of manipulative and shady behavior can take place.
While that kind of drama would seem perfect for television, the industry has not found a way to work around the transparency issues. In the meantime, Miller says he would love to see a “hagiography of Larry Gagosian. They wouldn’t even have to show any kind of shadowy back door things…[Larry] is by all rights the most powerful art dealer in the world…he’s an actual mogul.”
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