Exit Through the Gift Shop

Over the course of my artistic education I thought that graffiti was under-appreciated as an art-form, then Banksy hit the scene in my art periphery and I was happy to see the medium gaining fast acceptance.









My interest in street art waned and the number of innovative and unique voices seemed to dwindle to nothing. And I became mesmerized by the fantastic accidental art-form of graffiti removal. Something I still have a massive passion for and continues to influence my own personal work.

In the mean time, Banksy has become ridiculously overexposed and commoditized and the mere sight of a rat on a wall sends people around into hysterical fits of "I'm hip! LOOK WHAT I KNOW ABOUT ART!" instead of appreciation for the art itself.







Yeah, I'm a jerk that hates when people know stuff. But since Banksy's plastered San Francisco this year in promotion of his film Exit Through the Gift Shop, it's been a continual topic of conversation. It's actually at the point where just ANY piece of black and white graffiti is pointed out as "A BANKSY."




Not quite...


So when I saw we had Exit Through the Gift Shop at work, my thoughts could best be described by this image:



Happily though, it's not the Banksy exaltation I thought it would be. In fact, it was a thousand times better than anything I could have ever expected!


The film tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a guy who may or may not be the greatest artist that has ever lived... or at least the new Warhol.


He was a man at the right place at the right time, that managed to pal around with some of street art's greatest voices. Filming their every move and filing it away in gigantic crates in his room. As Banksy's artist stock grew, Banksy became irritated by the dilution of his artistic intent and the fact that he was becoming a mere symbol of status in the art community.
So Banksy asked Thierry to take all that footage he had piled away and turn it into something that showed what the street art movement was all about. Banksy wasn't entirely satisfied with what Thierry produced so he recommended that the filmmaker go to L.A. and try and create some street art of his own. Thierry took the idea to heart and created "The Factory" of the 21st Century.




His studio produced hundreds of paintings virtually overnight by slamming pop-culture with pop art with art from throughout time. The results are sometimes TRULY HORRIFYING! Whether he's a genius or completely insane, it's really up to the viewer to decide. But either way, the film is well worth your time and money!