SUPPORT BRAVO, BUY YOUR OWN "WORK OF ART"

Will it be Kymia, Young Sun or Sara? The season two finale of Bravo’s reality show Work of Art airs tomorrow, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, and only one contestant will be crowned the world’s “next great artist.” But in the meantime, fans have a chance to “own a piece of history” thanks to a sale over at overstockart.com of artworks made on the show.

Kymia Nawabi’s winning print-on-canvas portrait of Cold Spring, N.Y., thrift-store owners Bob and Barbara First Date, 1980, can be yours for a mere $166 (a savings of 60 percent, the site claims). Or get Young Sun’s bright blue smiley street work for $119, painted during a challenge to create art that functions just as well on the street as it would in a gallery. “It would be a welcome addition to any fun-loving household,” says the website press release. Or maybe you’d prefer Sara Jimenez’s 8 x 10-inch watercolor-and-drawing street portrait Louie for just $49.

Sounds like a nice way for the artists to make a little extra pocket change in case they don’t win that $100,000 cash prize and solo show at the Brooklyn Museum, right? Not quite. Turns out Bravo secured full ownership of all artworks made on the show in its contracts with the participants. According to one colorful art dealer, “Bravo stole the shit and now is selling it online. It was in the fine print. . . . Can you believe those cocksuckers?”

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