The Men Of Hollywood

Actor-artist-writer James Franco has a solo art show! It opens June 23 at the Clocktower Gallery in New York. What will be in it? A "work explor[ing] a romantic encounter between "Star Trek" characters Spock and James T. Kirk."

Like every stoner who has ever lived, James Franco is simultaneously hilarious, and annoying. When he is acting, like in Pineapple Express and 30 Rock, he makes us laugh. When he is writing, like in the "What is art, man?" op-ed he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, he makes us sigh, exasperatedly.

For his upcoming solo show at the Clocktower, it seems like he is wearing his "irritating art bro" hat. The show, which is called "The Dangerous Book Four Boys," consists of "sculpture, photography and drawing, as well as film and video." Alanna Heiss—founder of mega-hip MoMA outpost P.S.1—will be curating it. What is it about? Sexual confusion, of course.

"The Dangerous Book Four Boys" addresses boyhood and the "sexual confusion" of adolescence, as Ms. Heiss put it. Short films focus on demolition, showing burning or bullet-riddled structures like a plastic toy home or a large wooden rocket (the exhibition contains originals or replicas of these). Another work explores a romantic encounter between "Star Trek" characters Spock and James T. Kirk.

"I feel like shows or films that deal with kids, they're playing to all of these sexual feelings that you have at that age, but they don't fully admit to it," he said. "So I kind of try to draw that out. The implicit in those shows and books, I try to make it a little more explicit."


So, will it be good? Could be! Who can even tell these things about art, anymore. Heiss thinks he'll be "a visionary artist for his generation," which is maybe praise, and maybe not, if you know about our generation. I can say this: It definitely won't be as good as his old TV show, Freaks and Geeks. But nothing is.

SOURCE: Gawker