“It’s really painful to come that close and not win. I feel really sad and a little angry,” said Jimenez after the decision. Judges, which included New York Magazine senior art critic Jerry Saltz, gallery owner Bill Powers and pop artist Kaws, chose Iranian American 30-yearold Kymia Nawabi as the winner of this season’s Work of Art competition.
Nawabi bested fourteen of the art world’s up-and-coming artists for the $100,000 cash prize, a feature in Blue Canvas magazine and a solo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Young Sun Han of Chicago, placed second.
Jimenez, though, is not going home empty-handed. During the season, Jimenez won two art challenges that netted her $40,000.
The 26-year-old Jimenez is the granddaughter of former Philippine Ambassador to Canada, the late Privado Jimenez. In an interview with the Asian Journal after the finale, Jimenez said she’s not sure if the judges made the right decision about the winner of the finale. She also said she didn’t deserve to be placed third.
“I don’t know to be honest,” she said. “I feel like my work was really strong. And I feel like Kymia’s work was really strong. But I also felt Young’s work, he took a risk and put himself out there that was very new to him. I think it’s hard to put a hierarchy on those three exhibitions [in the finale]. It’s a strange structure for the judges to have to choose this is the best, this the second and third best, but that’s how the reality show is set up.”
There has to be a winner and a loser, she said.
“I personally would have liked to have come in second or first but I know in terms of the reality TV show that’s how it has to be,” she said. Overall, she added she did feel Kymia deserved to win. “I thought it was a toss up between me and her.”
For those not too familiar with Work of Art reality series, it’s similar to reality competitions, however, it’s unlike any thing people have learned about artist and how they come up with their inspiration. Most artists may take months or years to complete a single work of art but the artists in the series, have to come up with an idea on the spot (after given a challenge) and have less than a day to complete it.
“It is extremely difficult,” said Jimenez about competing on the show. “It’s a really intense and scary process. The first week I was there I cried the whole and was like, ‘I don’t think I could make it.’ It’s difficult to not only have a specific challenge but then come up with an idea, you’re then asked questions about it, cameras are watching and then the next day there’s a gallery show and you have to defend it. It’s really intense and pressure filled.”
Jimenez persevered
Throughout the Work of Art season 2 series, Jimenez displayed a lot of great work and talent. Judges noticed how upon entering the competition, Jimenez was primarily a figurative painter but as the season went on, she showed just as much skill working using other mediums such as sculpture and installations.
“The experience on Work of Art has shown me that I can do more than I thought I could and that I have a lot more endurance and strength than I thought I did. And that I’m not limited to any one medium,” she said. “It showed me that there’s still a lot for me to learn and grow from.”
So what’s next for Jimenez?
Jimenez said she started grad school at Parson in New York City. She’s spending the rest of the holidays in the Philippines, but after that, she’s planning to continue her work and exploring her art.
She said as a Filipina growing up, she always felt like she had to defend herself as an artist to members of her family. But being on the show has helped change her families perception of artist and the art world. Since being on the show, Jimenez said “a lot of people have been buying and emailing me about my work.”
“It just goes to show that you can make money in a creative way. I’m not going to be that poor starving artist or that stereotype.”
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