Just like everyone else, the art world is getting tired of James Franco. The actor/director/writer/artist/scholar machine seems to be finally slowing down with the help of a few Instagramscandals and a total flop at Pace Gallery. The underwhelming show, titled "New Film Stills," opened two weeks ago and was met by a slew of negative reviews. For the exhibition, Franco recreated Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills" photo series, posing as the chameleon artist (but with a lot more facial hair) in dresses and wigs. In the wake of scathing criticism of the show and everything Franco, we put together a list of The Worst Things Critics Have Said About James Franco's Art in GIFs. At least we have this to thank him for.
"I can only be flattered. I don’t know that I can say it’s art, but I think it’s weirder that Pace would show them than that he would make them." —Cindy Sherman in Gallerist
"To know how far down the rabbit hole we’ve come; at this point George W. Bush is actually a better artist than James Franco." —Jerry Saltz in Vulture
"James Franco’s new exhibition at Pace is bad. It’s not a George W. Bush–caliber train wreck, but it’s close." —Benjamin Sutton inartnet
"A paparazzi-magnet, Franco’s presence in myriad exhibitions reflects an insecure art world’s seemingly harmless infatuation with celebrity and hunger for validation." —Jessica Dawson in The Daily Beast
"Pastiche doesn't quite describe it. Dryly conventional does." —Christopher Knight in The Los Angeles Times
"The best case scenario for James Franco is that he's doing a great performance art piece on how to use up all the good will." —Mallika Rao in The Huffington Post
"Thank God, the joke is finally over." —Jason Bailey in Flavorwire.
"Perhaps James Franco should just stick to acting. He remains embarrassingly clueless when it comes to art." —Roberta Smith in The New York Times
