20 Aug 2012

Summer Obsession: Gallery Girls

Summer may be coming to a near close, but that doesn’t mean that the television season ever has to stop. While starting my vacation this past weekend and indulging in too much food that my body couldn’t handle, I discovered a new series that was right up my alley. Bravo doesn’t disappoint with the reality series. Ever. Remember NYC Prep? Now, that was just gold. Whether or not Gallery Girls will fair the same, it may be too soon to tell – but I have high hopes.

Gallery Girls follows the lives of seven girls living in different New York neighborhoods all trying to make it in the art world. I don’t like to stereotype that much, but hey – the show has already laid it out this way. The blondes come from or live in the Upper East Side and typically have money handed to them. The brunettes are the real raw artsy folks. They’re hipster, wear black, and always have lipstick on their teeth. And if you’re caught with lipstick on your teeth, that is just the biggest fashion faux pas ever and the blondie Liz uses it as some way to make fun of them. SHE’S SO NICE, you guys!

From left to right – Amy, Angela, Maggie, Kerri, Liz, Claudia, Chantal

Amy is a little bit of a hoot! She’s loud and loves the booze naturally, but Liz has also proclaimed that she’s just an ass-kisser. And it’s true. At first I didn’t want to believe it because let’s be real – who wants to believe anything that mean Liz says, but thanks to Bravo’s amazing editing skills, you really get a feel for it. She’s a 24 year old intern or something like that, but shows no signs of slowing down in the party scene. Everything she has is paid for because of daddy, but later on in the previews I think she has to leave her pretty apartment because daddy goes on to sell it. I can’t wait for this moment.

I don’t care that much for Angela. She left California for New York because everyone over on the West Coast thought she was weird. Angela is extremely comfortable with her body and does the whole photography/modeling thing and…that’s about it.

Maggie is Maggie. She’s got a little bit of a problem with her communication skills in that she likes to “beat around the bush” and be vague about almost everything, but she’s pretty cute with her wavy brown hair! In the first episode, Maggie previously interned at the Eli Klein gallery and after taking a break from her internship, she decides she wants to come back. Like a lot of the girls in New York (says the show,) Maggie can afford to have unpaid internships because she’s got a trust fund. Why she took this break in the first place – we still don’t really know. Her boyfriend looks like a meat head though and that makes me giggle.

With one episode in, I’ve already deemed Kerri my favorite “character.” Kerri recently moved to New York after growing up middle class in Long Island and she believes in hard work to get to where she needs to be. In the first episode, she is aggressive in making connections at the first event taking place at the Eli Klein gallery and manages to land herself an internship at the same place where crazy Amy is interning at! Kerri wasn’t highlighted very much so we’re still getting to know her, but I pray that she remains neutral and a) doesn’t become Liz, b) doesn’t befriend Amy and c) continues to kick butt and get further than all of the other girls.

Liz is a mean girl. She comes from money and doesn’t believe in working for anything. Since her father is a notable figure in the art collection world, Liz believes that she should just receive top notch treatment everywhere she goes, but this doesn’t phase the hipster girls at all and they quickly dismiss her. I think her and Maggie are going to end up being friends maybe, but you just know that at some point Liz is going to stab her in the back when she doesn’t see it coming. She’s also got some great lines in the show that are simply jaw dropping. At the same time, you love her. I love Liz, but the world hates her just as much.

Claudia and Chantal are best friends and have recently decided to open up a new art space in the Lower East side where they will feature pieces of art and sell clothing. Claudia will deal with the arts and Chantal  the merchandise. They also have another co-owner named Lara, but no one really cares about her that much and when I say no one – I mean no one. There was one scene where Lara was  crying in the back of their shop before their opening and Chantal with her hipster ways just brushed it off. Zero f’s given from this chic. At the beginning of the episode when we are introduced to the two girls, I think to myself, “How cute! Best friends! I want that!” but at the end of the hour, I’m asking myself if these two girls have anything in common at all. It looks like they don’t. The big drama surrounding Claudia is that her parents gave her $15,000 to invest in their so-called shop and when she expresses some concern over this, her co-owners could care less. Chantal basically just does what she wants and is the manic indie pixie dream girl (it’s not a hipster show without one, right Bravo?) Chantal seems like she’s really going to mess things up for Claudia and that by the end of the season, their shop is going to be kaput and so is their friendship – but it’s cool because Chantal is so nuts and purses her lips all the time and talks exactly like Mary-Kate Olsen.

Gallery Girls is on Bravo tonight at 10PM. I’ve already set an appointment on my calendar for it. 

Posted on August 20, in People