Exit Through the Gift Shop
dir. Banksy
2010, Paranoid Pictures
Rating: 9.0
“What is art?” Sit around any artist, and they will endlessly ponder this question.
Allow me to suggest a definition: art is any message that takes an individual (or group) to take extra-ordinary means to communicate a message.
An artist’s great payoff is the audience’s reaction and, if that artist is blessed enough, some influence of the message will permeate the thinking of the audience. The result is that the medium is a symbiotic relationship between artist and audience, each communicating in such a way that, if the art is successful, stirs emotions and thoughts that perhaps influences the world just a bit because that art exists.
On a hot memorial day, mere blocks from the location of the future George W. Bush Presidential Library, the Anjelika Theater of Dallas showed Exit Through the Gift Shop, a new film from UK street artist Banksy and American street artist Shephard Fairey. The film, at its artistic level, asks the street artist what must his medium must become in light of his impending popularity. From the audience, the artist asks if the audience is even paying attention to the artist or if the artist even matters at all.
‘Documentary’ is a tag that doesn’t seem quite appropriate for Exit Through the Gift Shop, thought that is what the film seems to be. The film takes the form of a documentary, centered around the character of Thierry Guetta, a French-born resident of Los Angeles and street art enthusiast. Guetta supposedly owns a vintage clothing store in Los Angeles and fills his time filming literally everything in his life. Guetta begins documenting many of the pieces that artists like his supposed cousin, Space Invader, and contemporaries Shephard Fairey and Banksy begin to install in the United States and Europe. This desire to document these pieces begins a passion in him that produces first a documentary of his own and then inspires him to become “Mr. Brainwash.”
This is where this film becomes suspicious. Thierry’s street art persona, Mr. Brainwash, ends the movie by producing one of the largest and highest-grossing exhibit openings of all time, due in large part to an extremely large number of prints that look suspiciously like Banksy and Shepard Fairey rip-offs of contemporary artist works like those of Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.
Essentially, the idea that most people share of Exit Through the Gift Shop is that the Thierry Guetta plot is an elaborate prank being put on by Banksy and Shepard Fairey. I share this same viewpoint; however, I don’t think that this is the point of the piece.
What is a guy like Banksy, beloved by the art world for his culturally insightful use of what is culturally known as “graffiti” to tackle issues that surround the spirit of this age, supposed to say next? What does a guy like Shepard Fairey, known for his “Obey” clothing line and portrait of President Obama, have to say to a public that already buys his style?
It seems that they are saying that their art is meaningless pulled out of the public sphere and that it remains as only wallpaper. Art needs the artist and an audience that is the general public. It seems that Banksy and Fairey only see their art as elaborate wall decorations when they are freed from their exposure to the largest possible audience.
The high art world habitually looks to the low art world for artists with great ability to use different techniques to inspire new artistic movements. This is done under the guise of insight and appreciation for their cultural message, but is really just a veiled attempt at having “the next new thing.” Typically, “the next new thing” is really just a permutation or a new execution of the old thing done differently. To the high art collector, the significance of art is technique because their money gives them the illusion of power because their purchase validates the artist’s message.
But the artist knows better. Banksy and Fairey know that the art world is really just a facade. They use it as a vehicle to say what they want to say to a large audience, and laugh the whole way to the bank as the high art world funds their projects which aim to interpret reality to the masses. What is that reality? It’s an illusion. It’s an overthought concept designed at keeping the truth from the masses.
Which brings up a secondary point. This movie is wonderfully entertaining. Every character is fun, light-hearted, adventurous. I wanted to hang out with all of these people by the end, not just because of their ideas, but because I liked them all. This is the great victory of this film and its artist’s–they’ve made something accessible of inaccessible topics and hidden deep topics which cause you to think. And that makes this film as subversive as someone’s writing on a public wall.
(picture via Wikipedia)
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7 Comments so Far
1 By Evan Mather on Jun 5, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I’d heard a bit about this movie, but I’m definitely going to need to check this out after reading your write-up. I love documentaries about the nature of art and what constitutes a true artist, like My Kid Could Paint That and Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?. Even The Devil and Daniel Johnston looks into the line between artistic inspiration and mental health issues. This looks like another one right up my alley!
2 By Louis Korom IV on Jun 8, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Evan, the best part of the movie sincerely is how legitimately entertaining it is. I think you’ll really enjoy it!
3 By Nate Gass on Jun 10, 2010 at 2:04 am
Just saw this movie tonight. I loved it! It was so fun to watch the whole way through even though the subject of the film continued to change (true to Thierry’s impulsive nature).
Lou, what did you mean by the Thierry plot being an elaborate prank? I didn’t catch that part. Did you read that somewhere?
I think it will be interesting to see if this film inspires more characters like Thierry, more street art like Banksy’s and Fairy, both, or neither. Either way the film is so entertaining that I see it becoming very popular.
4 By Louis Korom IV on Jun 12, 2010 at 2:39 pm
The buzz surrounding this movie and the press on it is that Thierry Guetta is, in fact, a prank by Banksy. I have to admit that I think that Banksy is in on it, perhaps even the mastermind, but I think that Shephard Fairey has his hand in it as well.
Consider these points:
1) For a guy who has never created art before, Thierry is prolific to the point of being suspicious.
2) Observe the initial image that Thierry uses of himself. Many bloggers have observed that the image looks like something from Banksy’s own hand, while I see more the curvature of Shephard’s hands (see Obama poster for reference).
3) Notice the subject matter of the art and how varied but derivative it is.
4) Thierry’s tagging name is “Mr. Brainwash.”
5) Banksy’s art is meant for exhibition. It is serious, grotesque, critical, whimsical, and sarcastic all at once. However, it should be noted that it is never open with Banksy’s name or credentials (other than his pseudonym). What would stop him from creating another pseudonym?
So let’s say that it is an elaborate prank. Would we be offended? Would it actually shed more light on the philosophy that Banksy is conveying through his work?
5 By Nate Gass on Jun 12, 2010 at 8:00 pm
I think you’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t be offended in the slightest if it was a prank. I just hadn’t heard it proposed as one.
I thought it was a given in the film that Thierry had a hired group of artists that did the designs for him and he just gave them ideas. I just assumed that he himself wasn’t actually very good at executing street art. He was selling himself more than his talent.
As an exciting side note. After seeing the film, we were driving around LA and we saw some of Mr. Andre’s characters on a wall near Hollywood Boulevard. To be able to recognize street art made me feel so cool!
6 By Wesley Johnson on Jun 29, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Yeah, man. This was a great flick. Caught it down in Georgia a few weeks ago and loved it.
7 By Wesley Johnson on Jun 29, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Another kinda fun thing to think about is that Banksy and Fairey likely created all these generic looking images and tricked the art world into paying top dollar for them. Phat bank, sy.
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