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!

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?