Apprentice Hopefuls Fail Hard In Art Market Cringe Fest

Now I love The Apprentice as much as the next guy. But the obligatory art episode is always a super cringe fest. Tonight we are to be treated once again to the spectacle of business noobs applying their ‘talents’ to the art market, wheeling and dealing like they’re on a fruit stall.

This time the teams have to convince a bunch of sceptical street artists they should let them represent them and sell their work. Tom Gearing grabs the leadership of Team Phoenix thanks to his ‘impressive’ art knowledge: ‘I know a bit about graffiti. I understand the art and the technicalities of how graffiti is produced, so I can tell the difference between what a good-quality graffiti piece is and what a bad-quality graffiti piece is.’ Impressed? So am I.

But shock horror it all comes to nothing when confronted with the real deal, when street artist Pure Evil is unconvinced. In Tom’s words, Pure Evil must be ‘mental’. And instead of Phoenix, the street artist instead sides with the opposition team headed by architect Gabrielle Omar!

But Gabrielle also meet a few hitches, especially when they try to convince Beefeater Gin that they can find an artist to represent their brand. And worse still, when representatives come to check out their exhibition we are treated to – in the words of Karen Brody – ‘a master class in how not to treat a corporate client’.

Follow ArtLyst on Twitter for breaking art news and latest exhibition reviews

 

Tags

, , ,