Star Search

New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch, known for turning hip, young, attractive artists into art-world celebrities, held an open call Monday for "Artstar," a reality-based television show about making it in the New York art world. Painters, performers, video artists, and photographers from as far away as Montana, California, Florida, Washington, and Texas showed up in SoHo to get their shot at art stardom.

Deitch Projects and production company Aboriginal Entertainment have partnered to make the show for Gallery HD, "the Arts and Museum Channel." From the 400 candidates, 30 would be asked to come back the next day. Eight finalists would then be able to organize a group show at Deitch.

The line stretched south toward Canal - more than half way around an SoHo block - by 10:30 in the morning, when two Hunter College graduate students, Curtis and Aaron, joined the line. Curtis, who had hints of blush on his high, Iggy Pop cheekbones, was older than most of the 20-somethings around him in the line, and said he made "drag-conceptual art." He was carrying a book of slides and, in a shopping bag, a globe made of blue and green sequins.

Everyone agreed the idea of an art world reality show was ridiculous. The prospect of a show at Deitch, however, was undeniably alluring. Aaron, who painted wormy, anatomical images on stretched plastic, said he knew a producer who'd said that painter Cecily Brown might be one of the judges. Men in suits and overcoats at the door to Deitch counted 15 candidates at a time from the line and told them to return with their artwork at an appointed time.

According to James Fuentes, the director of the Chelsea gallery Lombard-Fried and an executive of the show, the idea for "Artstar" began several years ago as a conversation between him and Mr. Deitch. At first they thought of it as a public-access show, but some friends suggested they aim higher. Messrs. Deitch and Fuentes spent a year and a half pitching it to different cable channels. "We've gotten some strong inquiries to take this to other countries. We wanted to reach a very wide audience and hopefully, ideally, an international audience," Mr. Fuentes said.

The board of Cablevision Systems, which controls Voom, the satellite operation responsible for several channels, including Gallery HD, recently determined to sell the company, rendering its future uncertain. Yet "Artstar" executive producer Abby Terkuhle said, "we're committed to doing a pilot as we always were, and I think it's fair to say that we have interest from other networks."

When Curtis returned at about 2:30, he laid his work out on tables as the judges walked around looking and asking questions. They included Mr. Fuentes, Mr. Deitch, Deitch Projects Director Suzanne Geiss, and critic Carlo McCormick, joined at times during the day by Art forum critic David Rimanelli, artist/musician Alan Vega, and Debra Singer, curator at the Kitchen.

The point of the process wasn't so much looking for the right individuals as for the right group of people to be part of the television show. From his group of 15, Curtis was chosen, given a card, and then interviewed at length. "It was about art in the middle and then television later," he said. That night Curtis was up until 5 a.m. trying to decide what to bring back the next day.