Hi everyone!
Welcome back to another week of reviews, with three Netflix Originals, the the return of Garrett Wright and Keith Lyons, and two new reviews from Andrew Campbell and Shane Hyde. Be sure to check out our reviews for Oscar winners and nominees using #Oscars2019 or the Oscars 2019 blog tag at onemoviepunch.com.
As for today, I thought with all the post-Oscars discussion that it would be worth re-running my review for one of my favorite documentaries, especially with all artworld criticism in recent films like “Velvet Buzzsaw” (Episode #407) and “High Society” (Episode #421). “Exit Through The Gift Shop” is probably the best artworld takedown made so far, and cracked open the world of street art for myself and countless others. It has a 95% Certified Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and an 85 Must See rating at Metacritic. You can catch it streaming on Sundance Now, or by rent/purchase at major digital outlets.
Here we go!
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Today’s movie is “Exit Through The Gift Shop”, the extremely subversive documentary by Banksy about street art and its relationship with the art world, told through the eyes of Thierry Guetta, a street art filmmaker who would later transform himself into Los Angeles’ hottest new street artist, Mr. Brainwash or MBW.
At least it might be. Anything goes with Banksy at the wheel and particularly when it comes to so-called street art. From “Kilroy Was Here” to New York City’s graffiti boom to the modern waves of street art in cities worldwide. The public art form has now recently caught the eye of the big money art world, the loose grouping of people who decide what is art and profit from its traffic. With commerce starting the process of gentrifying the subversive art form, it’s up to someone to subvert the subversion.
Enter Thierry Guetta, a supposed street art obsessive documentarian who happens to have been present during the latest wave of street art beginning with Invader’s work re-creating 8-bit icons, through spending time with the legendary Shepard Fairey, creator of the iconic Obey and Barack Obama Hope posters. And eventually, he gets to work with and document Banksy, who takes over the film after seeing an extremely bad cut of Thierry’s street art documentary, and sends him back to Los Angeles to become a street artist.
Enter Mr. Brainwash, Thierry’s new street art persona, who essentially copies every step of those who he has documented, mortgaging everything to put on a massive art show in Los Angeles known as “Life is Beautiful”. He hires other artists to create his work for him based on vague direction, and leverages two quotes from Shepard Fairey and Banksy to create a massive buzz around the show, becoming the premiere street artist, selling over a million dollars worth of art.
Now, is it real? Much like art, it depends on how you look at it, and more importantly, how much the presence of a camera affects everything. “Exit Through The Gift Shop” could be a full-on hoax, which would fall in line with Banksy’s aesthetic. But I think the film does something much more subversive... it documents how the art world is so easily swayed by hype and name recognition, and how two sentences could make anyone an overnight success, deserved or not.
