Directions
Kerri claims to come from a “middle class family where [her] parents both worked multiple jobs, so they’re really not in any position to support [her].” Of course this narration is paired with a shot of Kerri with her mother, struggling to fit a gigantic bed into her luxurious West Village townhouse. Currently working as a lifestyle manager, Kerri doesn’t find the ability to design every aspect of a person’s life creative enough, and also likes art because she saw some in Europe.
While the other girls are causing drama at the Eli Klein event, Kerri introduces herself to Sharon Hurowitz and gets an internship alongside Amy at her art advisory company. Of course, she shows up to the interview in a fur coat over a fur vest and leather skirt. I guess Kerri just really hates animals; either that or the materials were salvaged from lesser interns.
Maggie is the runt of the Upper East Side litter, attempting to move up from gallery internships to paid positions by making a series of horrible decisions and antagonizing anyone who can help her. At the start of the show, Maggie is AWOL from her internship at Eli Klein’s gallery, explained by a flashback of the horrible things Eli would make her do, like put letters into envelopes or stir the coffee after putting the sugar in. “[He] used to tell me,” she says in true Lifetime Original Movie fashion, “that he was the only gallery in New York that sold Asian art.”
Regretting her departure from the internship, Maggie makes two attempts to curry Eli’s favor. The first is a visit to his gallery, in which she pretends to hold some sort of leverage and rejects his offer of the internship she wanted. The second is showing up at the premier she was supposed to set up. Eli asks her to tell the guests that the gallery is closing, and after whining that he should do it himself, timidly barks at the patrons: “Hey guys, like, we’re done here.”
Maggie, in the same boat as the rest of us.
While Gallery Girls provides the drama and nudity we’ve grown to love in Work of Art, I can’t say I don’t miss the aspect of having actual art to talk about. Coming out of each episode with an array of rushed and sabotaged pieces to critique alongside the interpersonal tension gave us something to debate after the show ended; the drama in Gallery Girls is unambiguous and skin-deep. However, the pre-existing relationships between the girls and real settings add a level of immersion to Gallery Girls absent from Work of Art’s fantasy of a dozen strangers in a hermetically-sealed studio. And Chantal’s hats make her a great ersatz China Chow.
Is this for welding jewelry, or for mourning Maggie’s career?
Next time on Gallery Girls: Eli makes Maggie count pebbles (to grovel for her job back?); Lara’s recipe for gallery success: “sell a painting;” Angela pretends not to date some other guy.
- Gallery Girls Episode 8: Cheers to Double-Fisting
- Gallery Girls Episode 7: “It Feels So Good to Be a Gangster”
- Gallery Girls Episode 6: We’ve All Made Mistakes
- Gallery Girls Episode 5: I Didn’t See a Vagina in It, But Spencer’s Boss Did
- Gallery Girls Episode 4: “Gays and Asians, We Can’t Handle Either of You Anymore”
- Gallery Girls Episode 3: “It’s Like, Actual Dirt”
- Gallery Girls Episode 2: “I Feel Like We’re Being Raped Right Now”
{ 8 comments }
This is why most of America thinks that the “art world” is full of spoiled, shallow narcissists. And they are right.
Genius: “where Gallery Girls stops and Real Housewives of New Jersey begins.”
I read the first paragraph hoping for satire, but found none, so I stopped reading. This show deserves no extra publicity.
Boring. Not you, Art Fag.
I just read Paddy’s reviews. No point in actually watching it.
Actually, these are written by Ben McCauley, not me.
I love Gallery Girls ! I love even better Ben Macaulay’s review of it! I taped the show and had to go back and play it again to laugh at Chantel’s hair length! This is better than the History Channel !
Just an FYI, LBGT couples can marry in NYC.
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