So I recently watched the film “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Great film. Before watching it, the only thing I knew about street art and graffiti was the artist Banksy, the enigmatic and arguably most popular graffiti artist in the world, and how he used satire to voice his political and social commentary. The film offers a great glimpse into the world of graffiti art and the commercialization of certain artists. It follows the development of Thierry Guetta into Mr. Brainwash, a self-anointed protege of Banksy himself and features some of the only footage of Banksy ever captured on film. More interestingly, it highlights the arbitrariness with which culture judges and monetizes certain “talent” and how once something is declared a piece of art, mainstream culture jumps on the bandwagon whether there be any intrinsic value to the piece or not. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in art or learning more about the subculture of graffiti.
collected and curated 