James Franco Teaches Art Class At PS1; Collaboration With Gus Van Sant

James Franco is kind of a high-low guy. He's in a remake of "Planet of The Apes" with bigwig John Lithgow and earlier this week he announced he's rejoining the cast of "General Hospital." He always keeps us on our toes.

The modern day renaissance man can seemingly do anything (except, maybe, host an awards show), and now Franco is adding art teacher to his already laughably long resume.

New York's MoMA PS1 will present a collaboration between Franco, "Milk" director Gus Van Sant and RISD professor Francisco J. Ricardo. The museum will host master classes offering a seminar-style discussion on "contemporary practice with artists, authors, musicians, curators, theorists and scholars." This is kind of every liberal arts girl's fantasy: a round table discussion with James Franco talking about art and wearing a tweed jacket.

Franco's work will also be on display. His film, "My Own Private River," is recut version of Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," which features River Phoenix.

The film will be on replay during museum hours -- we'd have it no other way, Professor.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Franco and Van Sant were leading the class; in fact Franco is co-teaching it with Ricardo, a media theorist, teacher in the Digital + Media Department of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Comments

[bradenton]

11:48 AM on 07/30/2011

It amazes me how many men are jealous of this Renaissance Man. And he's hot to boot. Kind of a handsome Michelangelo.

[Typhonator]

01:18 PM on 07/30/2011

Hmmm....so any time somebody criticizes somebody it's because they're jealous of that person?

[Benjamin Sisko]

06:36 PM on 07/29/2011

Franco always wears this self-bemused expression that seems to say: "I can't believe I'm getting away with these scams."

[Typhonator]

01:21 PM on 07/29/2011

Well, there goes any respect I had for PS 1.

[samanthemofthesun]

08:43 AM on 07/29/2011

Adventurous is sexy. Seeing him in Howl pretty much sealed the deal for me...

[kinogod]

03:06 AM on 07/29/2011

The dude is doing more with his 15 minute key to the city than most.

[tyrant510]

08:52 PM on 07/28/2011

i like james franco, but i'm getting tired of reading things like "the guy who can do anything". well, it's all fine and dandy that he tries a wide range of things, but up to this point, the only thing i've seen him do well is act. so maybe he should focus on that and stop with the mediocre attempts at every other profession in the book. in a way it's disrespectful to others in the various crafts. he seems to just s**t stuff out and then move on to the next thing, all while seeming to say, "look what i can do!" you know what they say, 'jack of all trades..."

[avery t]

09:29 AM on 07/29/2011

when he can teach a college seminar on foucault, i'll be impressed.

[tyrant510]

08:58 PM on 07/29/2011

exactly. your avatar is pretty impressive too there, avery t.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

11:18 PM on 07/29/2011

Personally, I think he does it strictly for the media attention. Every time he enters a new PhD program (I think he's enrolled in five seperate programs right now) or does something like this it always ends up being annouced in the MSM, like it's nothing but a PR ploy to show how "diverse and smart" he is. It's nothing more than an image.

[forkuu]

07:06 PM on 07/28/2011

i like this guy he is so real and not afraid to try stuff.. good for him..