Film Name: Exit Through The Gift Shop
Source: Netflix Instant Watch
Rating: 8/10
My husband mentioned this movie to me this morning and urged me to watch it, I did know a bit about Banksy so I thought it would be a good fit. I am interested in art anyway. My husband makes awesome comics and would be happiest to do that full time for a living, I like so sculpt a bit and knit and embroider and sew too. I have known some tattoo guys, and I even had a friend that painted the singing weiners mural at the now defunct Hot Dog's and Karaoke on Cleveland's West side. Clearly I am an expert......
Theiry Gueatta lives his entire life with his video camera, he tapes all aspects of his life relentlessly. Guetta starts taping his cousin "Space Invader" an artist who assembles tiles into a mosaics of the creatures from Space Invader, and then installs them in public spaces. Gueatta begins to document other street artists who are sneaking around anonymously displaying their stuff.
I am a big fan of this sort of thing. I love that people can create something great that is NOT an advertisement for any bullshit crap and share it with everyone. I love Toynbee Tiles and yarn bombed trees and graffiti. Someone has been going around spray painting large colorful murals of my maiden name on trains, and it makes me really happy to find their work online. They are really talented and it is something meaningful to me because my grandpa worked for the rail road his whole adult life.
A chance meeting with artist Shepherd Fairy, who did the famous Obey pictures of Andre the Giant, leads to Gueatta traveling with Fairy and filming him installing his stuff all over the world and actively assists Fairy in climbing rooftops and carrying his supplies around with him.
Renowned street artist Banksy comes to Theiry's attention. Banksy is anonymous guy who has done some really well known stenciling around London, including the well recognised picture of two male cops kissing. Banksy started to become very well known for huge installations in public and even displaying his work in art galleries that did not want him in there. But he really became internationally known when he succeeded in tagging the Wall in the West Bank.
Banksy and Guetta meet in LA and Banksy allows Guetta to film his work with out his voice distorted and his face obscured. They work together to hit up the best places to art bomb. Banksy seems very humble and down to earth during his interviews , but Guetta seems very earnest and sincere and honest. The majority of the interviews are of Guetta rather than Banksy, and they both have a mutual admiration for eachother's talents and works.
I knew about Banksy already and I thought he was very talented and clever, but I was really interested in Thierry and how this all came to be. He had alot of appeal and his film making phiosophy of "I don't know how to stop, I don't know how to stop", was intriguing.
This was a very fun and hip watch that entertained a lot, but is definitely an education in modern art, and modern film making. I would highly recommend this movie, and I am glad my husband mentioned it.
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