Hasta La Ideas

Despite its cringeworthy premise and unfortunate logo (in which Geoffrey Lee‘s Impact typeface gets a Cubist clobbering), Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist is exceeding expectations. Our early favorites in the reality competition show are Mark Velasquez—fry cook by day, photomanipulation whiz by night—and the multitalented Miles Mendenhall, a drowsily handsome Minnesotan who talks obsessively about his obsessive compulsive disorder but never disappoints at exhibition time. Galleycat, our bookish brother blog, has the scoop on tonight’s episode, in which the artists are tasked with designing a book cover for a Penguin classic:

The twelve remaining artists, who are competing for $100,000 and a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum, will do their best to make a book cover that “captures the spirit of Penguin—classic yet cutting edge,” according to Penguin president Kathyrn Court, in the press release. No word on what the book is, but the winning design will be published tomorrow and available in bookstores.

The key to enjoying Work of Art? Don’t take it too seriously (and ix-nay on the Tom Friedman references!). As judge and self-proclaimed “art fan” Bill Powers said on the eve of the show’s premiere, “It wasn’t made for Cy Twombly to watch on his DVR.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.