It’d be impossible, or mindless to have a blog or even interest about Street Art and not know about “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. “Exit Through the Gift Shop” was released in January 2010 and is an excellent documentary shadowing famous street artist “Banksy” and his many works. It is described as “modern art and celebrity put under the microscope.” A fundamental concept in beginning to understand street art and its culture.
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” offers an interesting perspective on the popularity of street art while examining the public’s interpretations of what modern art exactly is. The film follows the life of Thierry Guetta, an eccentric immigrant who develops a love for filming street artists. At the beginning of the film, Thierry is represented as sort of an odd, yet legitimate and successful business man. This original perception comes increasingly under question from the audience as they witness Thierry’s peculiar actions in what appears to be good-natured, kind of, incompetence.
The first half of the documentary is largely based around the underground culture of street artists, and the meaning and passion behind their work. It repeatedly mentions that it “needs to be captured” as it is commonly removed; an act displayed several times throughout the film. The film does a good job at examining the motivations behind street art in order to tear down the perception that it is largely just vandalism. Shots of events from Thierry’s life develop an emotional connection between him the viewer, which helps to legitimize what are essentially thought of as crimes.
The second half of the movie revolves around Thierry’s final spiral into an “artist” himself. Many characters begin dropping the subtlety act about Thierry’s odd persona, going as far as directly calling him incompetent, crazy, etc. It’s in stark contrast to the beginning of the film, and underscores what I believe is a completely different message entirely. What is art, and who defines what good art is? The contrast between Thierry’s humorously awkward splattering of paint and Banksy’s politically-charged works is apparent.
As the end nears, it really seems that the documentary is challenging public perceptions of art and the “art scene.” Thierry makes millions of dollars (entirely from the works of others and in spite of himself) simply by offering eccentric commentary on “his” creations to pretentious onlookers. Even Thierry’s adopted name, “Mr. Brainwash,” seems like a subtle remark on the events. The real artists featured earlier in the movie openly question the “idiots” who bought into the whole ordeal. It seemed as if everything up to that point had been a satirical commentary on the state of modern, publicly acceptable “art” in contrast to “real” art on the streets. It’s subtle and is never explicitly stated, but that’s also what makes it effective.
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