Contestant Lorena Feijoo. Photo by Richard M. Brooks

The Art of Realism
Shot in Miami, New Reality Show Pits Artist Against Artist

By Danny Brody

Naming your new TV show “Work of Genius” takes a lot of chutzpah.

But co-producer Steve Bauer, who has been shooting in Miami for much of the summer, is not deterred by the prospect of living up to the title of the new reality show that pits artists against each other. The show airs this fall on Fox.

“Miami was such a great choice for shooting,” declares Bauer, a Magic City native and, alongside Al Pacino, a star of the classic crime movie “Scarface.” The show has given Bauer a chance to remember his roots at location shots all around the city. “My strongest memories are of summers in Miami, when my mom would take our ’67 Mustang fastback to the Venetian Pool every day, and drop off me and my brother and our friends. The AM radio blasting “Light My Fire.” Put that image on the air and people will be flocking — if you’ve seen it, it’s so beautiful, so cinematically stunning. We shot it like crazy!”

The show, which had 12 painters, dancers and other artists competing for a $100,000 prize, received over 600 applications through auditions held in NYC, L.A., and Miami. “There has been an explosion of art here in the last 10 years that has just been amazing,” said Bauer, who was only slightly surprised that half of the 12 contestants ended up being from his hometown, leading the whole production team to consider Miami as the place to shoot the series.

“In L.A., people are already so familiar with the backgrounds there. This,” he says as he waves his arms, “the ocean, the beach, great locations — imagine all of their easels lined up under these puffy clouds and blue skies,” Bauer said. His white Panama hat with a black silk band, and long-sleeved black guayabera called to mind his Cuban heritage.

“My parents had hard times, struggles, they were exiles — my grandparents too,” Bauer said. “I was born in Cuba, but I haven’t been able to explore those roots. I plan to. But my childhood is here.”

Shooting in Miami brought all the memories rushing back.

“Someone once said that if you live in the past, you can not wholly live in the present. But for me it works differently — memories of childhood keep me youthful. I had a charmed existence.”

For the better part of 30 years, Bauer has lived in L.A., far from the West Miami home he grew up in. “My parents don’t like the once-a-week long-distance phone relationship,” Bauer says. “They call me every day and want to know what I’m up to.” He added that his close-knit family inspired him on “Work of Genius.”

If Bauer has his way, the show won’t be like the typical reality show with the back room infighting and inflamed personality clashes. “I don’t want to do a salacious show filled with back-biting just to appeal to the lowest common denominator,” Bauer said. “These 12 artists are already like a family. They help each other and collaborate on projects, even though they are competing against one another.”

The “family” atmosphere is reinforced by one of the show’s stars, Claudia LaBianca. On a steamy afternoon last week, she was busy painting a long mural at the Eden Roc Hotel’s upper pool, attracting attention not just with the sexy cartoon characters she painted, but with the bikini in which she is do so. Even the Bacardi girls passing out free mojito samples stop to stare.

“It’s all about creativity,” says LaBianca, as she is affectionately known. “Steve has a great sense of humor, and we have all become very close. We may be from Africa, Russia, South America, or Italy, like me, but when you get to see everyone’s artwork, and talk about all the things we care about, we truly have become a family.”

LaBianca is the only filmmaker among the 12 artists. She assumed her episode would involve directing something — a short film, perhaps. However, for her challenge she was dressed up like Charlie Chaplin and asked to act on the spot. “In Italy I studied fashion, and I have done storyboards and short films, but I never acted before, and I was nervous,” Labianca said. “Steve was really helpful, though, and in the end I really liked doing it.”

Bauer couldn’t help but jump in.

“She’s a star. She’s going to be sensational,” he said. “I’m going to do a film with her soon!” And even though LaBianca claims she is trying to cause some mischief on the set, there seems to be a quiet calm as the artists go about their business of painting murals, both large and small, on the Eden Roc’s many facades. “They’re all great painters,” she says.

The movie she wants to make with Bauer is a love story, nothing like his star-turn as drug dealer Manny Ribera in “Scarface,” released in 1983. “You know being back in Miami reminded me of my old days at the Ring Theater [on the campus of the University of Miami],” recalls Bauer. “I did a lot of musicals, and some great dramas. I did “Of Mice and Men” with Ray Liotta at Ring. Man, we got great reviews in The Herald and were the toast of the town for a month.”

Although it’s his role in “Scarface” that still has people yelling recognition from cars, in restaurants and  department stores, it’s “Work of Genius” that is now foremost on his mind.

At Little Havana’s historic Manuel Artime Theater, Bauer watched Cuban ballerina Lorena Feijoo being filmed performing a series of Pas de Deux from Sleeping Beauty. As she bows, she receives a standing ovation from the cast, crew, and assembled onlookers.

“She is one of the great ballerinas of her time,” Bauer said. He jumps up on the stage and lifts the tiny ballerina over his shoulders, to thunderous applause. His hope is that “Work of Genius” will be greeted with the same enthusiasm.

“You know, the moment a society starts devaluing art, it starts to deteriorate,” he said. “Here we have a city that is fervent about art — it’s the only way we get from greed and corruption to tolerance and passion.”

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