Exit Through the Gift Shop

My friend Emily recommended I see this film. I'm glad she did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a fan of street art and ecentric artists. The star of the film, Thierry Guetta, is not so much an artist as he is an eccentric (somewhat skitso) entrepreneur who creates art to sell an image. He begins filming a handful of legendary street artists and then stumbles into a documentary that gets salvaged by one of the most allusive street artists - Banksy. Banksy directed this documentary and what a fine job he did. I loved how he weaved the story together and still managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. The film was visually and psychologically thrilling to watch. I couldn't believe it when he showed some of his stensil pieces on the seperation wall in the West Bank. I recognized one of them from my time over there going from Jerusalem to Ramallah. I didn't realize that was his work until I saw it again in this film. Amazing! I saw Shephard Fairey's work many times along U street and in a proper exhibit at the ICA in Boston. Who knew he was instrumental in creating this larger than life character of Mr. Brainwash (a.k.a. Thierry Guetta)? Rating - Banksy got the Best Documentary Oscar nomination, so this counter-culture phenomona just might be mainstraim now. Sadness. Nothing great can stay a mystery for long.