Great art in 2 days?

Project Runway is for fashion what Work of Art: The Next Great Artist is for visual art; both shows explore the artistry of up and coming artists and both share the same production company. As to be expected this show follows the reality TV formula in terms of structure and character selection, making viewers decide who should win and who should go home.

The intrigue of this series for me is not the characters, but rather the art that the contestants produce. Artists are given less than two days to create masterpieces to be shown in a gallery space and are then critiqued on their marketability and artistic merit.

What I continue to question as I watch is whether two days is enough time to create a work of art worthy of public consumption?

I believe many artists would agree that this is not enough time to complete something they are truly proud of; as often you need to walk away from a piece and come back to it at a later date to reflect and approach it with a fresh eye. The artistic process is as individual as DNA and thus different artists, no matter what the medium, work with different approaches and timelines.

In a competitive world that perpetuates deadlines, do we need to hold the visual arts up and compare it to the driven nature of business in order for it to be relevant to the average viewer? Or do we value art in all its forms because it gives us time and space to stop, think and create.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist airs Wednesdays at 10pm on Bravo