Gucci Gambles Reputation with James Franco's MOCA Exhibit

Gucci presented the provocative grand opening of James Franco’s MOCA’s art exhibit ‘Rebel’ this Saturday in

Los Angeles, alongside event supporters 7 for All Mankind, Samsung and The Chateau Marmont. In particular, the

involvement of Gucci-- a name synonymous with class and good taste -- is shocking, as Franco’s material was

unabashedly subversive, and many of these company’s conservative customers are not.

So just how subversive was the show, you ask? Well let me simply list some images I saw at the media-preview of the

exhibition.

A film featuring a woman being ejaculated on in a group rape setting, a film featuring a naked female gang stabbing

each other to death with swords, a cartoon depicting animals masturbating themselves and ejaculating on each other,

a jar of corroding cattle genitalia, and a video depicting animal genital mutilation were just a few of the images

on display in James Dean’s honor yesterday, curated by the famous actor who won a Golden Globe for his depiction of

James Dean in the 2001 biopic.

‘Rebel,’ blatantly -- err rebelled -- against all the elite connotations that previously defined Franco’s golden

image as a powerhouse celebrity, purposefully perverting his image and likeness in vulgar, defiant strokes. The star

has made a sub-celebrity career as a performance artist of sorts -- a cultural DJ - who remixes his career in

perplexing ways, like when he joined the cast of General Hospital as a serial killer artist, intimately named

Franco. "Rebel' combined his Dean experience, with the mind of his General Hospital character, and his own musings

on Hollywood in a single multi-media collage exhibition.

Additionally, 'Rebel' aimed to pay homage to Nicolas Ray’s classic film, Rebel Without a Cause by reinterpreting

and recreating the dynamics of stars Natalie Wood, James Dean, Sal Mineo and director Nicolas Ray’s thorny love

relationships behind the scenes. Franco commissioned collaborations with some of Modern Art's most acclaimed and

controversial names including subversive sculptor Paul McCarthy, and criminally decorated filmmaker Harmony Korine.