Exit The the Gift Shop (2010)
Director: Banksy
Watched: 5/4/17 and 3/27/19
Rating: 4/5
**** Spoilers****
Oh, so frustratingly compelling!
The guy is a fraud. Mr. Brainwash, not Banksy. (http://www.mrbrainwash.com).
Cannot believe idiots paid hundreds of thousands, totalling millions in sales for him on the “art” he paid other artists he found via Craigslist to create for him. Abominated watching him succeed as he sat and literally randomly came up with prices for his “work”. Maybe it is believable Look who our President is, after all (this is circa 2019).
Shepard Fairey, most famous for his OBEY Street Art Campaign and the iconic Obama 2008 Campaign Poster, said it best. In response to how he feels about being part of the inspiration behind Me. Brainwash, “I had good intentions.” He again elegantly avoids voicing his true feelings about his (at least once) friend Thierry Guetta (Mr. Brainwash’s real name) by saying “I do think that the whole phenomenon of Thierry’s obsession with street art, becoming a street artist, a lot of suckers buying into his show, and him selling a lot of expensive art very quickly, it is anthropologically, sociology, it is a fascinating thing to observe, and maybe there are some things to be learned from it.”
Banksy, similarly, thinks this is ridiculous. After viewing his beyond torturous initial film, he comments, “It was at that point that I realized that maybe Thierry wasn’t actually a film maker, and he was maybe someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera.” After his undeserved succeed at his art show “Life is Beautiful”, he admits, “There is no one like Thierry”- even though his art looks eerily similar to others’. Andy Warhol repeated iconic images until they became meaningless, but there was still something iconic about them. Thierry really makes them meaningless.
Moral of the story? Always used to encourage everyone I met to make art. Quite convinced that everyone can create something meaningful to someone. Having doubts about that now. Congratulations, Banksy for creating something so potent that a lifelong philosophy wilters.
Hated watching Thierry succeed. Loved learning about the other street artists and the movement. Plus, Shepard Fairey is really cute, and it is not at all surprising that he actually attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Alas, he is married!