Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Exit Through the Gift Shop, the debut film by street artist Banksy, is a fascinating documentary that illuminates both the world of street art and the hype machine that surrounds the art community. The film tells the story of French-born, Los Angeles resident and thrift store owner Theirry Guetta, who obsessively videotapes everything in his life—right down to his family meals and morning showers. On a vacation to France he finds out that his cousin is the street artist Space Invader. He soon begins to videotape Space Invader and his installations, and soon Guetta is introduced the underground world of street art, meeting such artists as Shepard Fairey and the elusive prankster Banksy. Guetta begins to shadow the artists during their midnight installations, and the artists willingly let him tag along, as he often provides help and will keep a document of their work. Guetta often proves to be very loyal to the artists, and during one excursion to Disneyland with Banksy, Guetta is stopped and interrogated by security for hours concerning a “mysterious” new installation to the theme park. After some time, Guetta is encouraged by Banksy to make a documentary of the street art world, but time passes, tapes and tapes pile up, a documentary is nowhere to be seen, and things get very interesting.

What happens next (and yes, spoilers to follow) proves to be interesting for both the filmmaker and the subject. A documentary is finally produced, but it’s such a shambling mess that Banksy decides to take over the project. Banksy then decides it would be better to just make a film about Guetta, as Banksy felt he proved to be a more “interesting” subject than himself. In another twist, Guetta becomes a street artist, dubbing himself “Mr. Brainwash”, and he begins work on a major exhibit in downtown Los Angeles. The problem is, Guetta’s work isn’t very good and often derivative of his mentors. The role reversal is played very slyly, but it proves to be a very interesting twist, especially when Guetta’s exhibition proves to be massively successful, seemingly on marketing alone. Banksy not-so-subtly has nothing but contempt for Guetta’s work as an artist, and you can tell he has mixed feelings about how his own art can influence work that is blatantly derivative. But who decides what constitutes “good” art? It’s a question that Banksy brings up time and time again in the film, letting the viewer ponder the implications of what happens when the hype is more believable than the art.

With Banksy at the helm, the film definitely has a lot to say about the commercialization of art. Banksy’s art begins selling for big bucks at the auction house, and his first exhibition proves to be an instant success both critically and financially. He obviously doesn’t seem very comfortable with the notion of his art being sold to the highest bidder--the sheep mentality of patrons buying art seemingly on hype alone. He gets to prove his point yet again with the success of the Mr. Brainwash exhibit, trying to come to grips as to how and why art gets so commercialized. This may all sound very intellectual, but the film actually stays very funny and playful throughout.

Exit Through the Gift Shop starts as a great documentary about street art, as it contains a lot of invaluable footage of artwork that often doesn’t last more than a day. It later becomes an essay on the nature of art and whether the art or the artist is more important to the public at large. Then by the end of the film, we’re left with yet another take—was this all a hoax by Banksy? It’s a question that many have pondered—the possibility that Mr. Brainwash (or Guetta) is a real-life installation created by Banksy. After all, we never see Guetta actually produce any art, and he’s very elusive when talking about his own art. What if Guetta was purposely producing bad art so the results (and subsequent success) could be filmed? While nobody’s talking, it would prove to be the ultimate prank on the audience. I haven’t decided if Guetta’s artwork is fake or not, but I think I would respect the prank more if it were fake--Banksy’s art is clever and playful, why should his film be any less entertaining?

Rating: 4 ½ stars