Recommendation of The Week (12/09): Exit Through The Gift Shop

Renowned street artist Banksy has directed a movie and his debut movie should be celebrated as much as his art was around the early part of the last decade. Rather than being a pretentious critique of modern culture, or his political art put on film,Banksy’s first film is a celebration of the street art scene. It has something to say about why and how art loses its value and the ridiculousness of the collector market which is constantly searching for the ‘next big thing’. Anyone looking for a clue as to the identity of Banksy should know up front that this film offers no new clues as to his identity. The artist is really a background character in his own film, an interview subject seen only in the dark with his voice altered. He shows up around the halfway mark which leads the narrative of the documentary off in an interesting new direction.

The film focuses on a man named Thierry Guetta, a simple immigrant vintage clothing store owner in Los Angeles. Thierry makes a good living but has obsessively recorded everything on video camera since he was a teenager. At some point during his life he discovers street art and starts to follow around some of the big names on the scene in LA, documenting their guerilla sometimes death defying acts on tall buildings and the escapes and arrests that sometimes happen. This is where the film is at its most exciting. Banksy has edited thousands of hours of Guetta’s footage into something that feels like a vibrant and exciting document of a time and a place and a scene in its infancy. Guetta’s enthusiasm for the street art culture comes to a head when he discovers Banksy’s art that kept appearing in the UK and creating a stir in the media. He sets out to try and meet his new hero and eventually manages to. Banksy agrees to let Guetta film him (but only from behind) and the two strike up a friendship. Guetta films Banksy doing several pieces round the world and holding exhibitions to great acclaim in LA. When Guetta and Banksy start to discuss what Guetta should do with all his footage is when the film gets really interesting and thought provoking as Guetta reinvents himself.

I won’t spoil it for you but what happens is some of the cleverest, funny and thought provoking documentary film making for some time. It makes you question a number of things. Is Thierry Guetta a real person? Could he be Banksy himself?  Its certainly possible that Banksy created the character of Guetta as a critique on a scene that has grown stale and gone mainstream. The point being that graffiti art was never meant to sell for millions as then everyone would be doing it, street art comes from a place inside that the mainstream couldn't and wouldn't ever understand no matter how many celebrities show up at your exhibition. If Guetta is real, and this is just as possible then Banksy created a monster and made the film to show the cycles that the art world goes in. Reaching its inevitable conclusion with pale imitations of original work that still sell for millions to collectors. You will no doubt have your own interpretation of the events presented here but don't be put off by the fact that this is a documentary by a celebrated artist. Its a very accessible and funny film which should be seen by the mainstream and debated and discussed as much as Inception or Scott Pilgrim. One of the best of the year.

by Chris Holt

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