Exit Through the Gift Shop is a “documentary” by graffiti artist
formally known as Banksy, that gives the audience an inside look at the exciting
world of graffiti and the work and effort put into decorating the streets of
large cities. At first, Thierry Guetta, a “film-making” Frenchman, embarks on
his journey to capture wonderful street artists, such as Space Invader and Shephard
Fairey, through film, but encounters Banksy on this journey, which is when
Guetta’s fate takes an unusual twist. While Banksy took on the role of
producer, Thierry became a celebrated street-artist himself, which he
accomplished in only a few months! How did Thierry Guetta, an unemployed father
and husband, accomplish such a feat? Well, that is the question that is
perplexing every viewer of the so-called “documentary”. Is the documentary
real? Or should we refer to it as a mockumentary? Is Banksy behind all of this
nonsense, tricking us into believing that “anyone can be an artist”? I think
Banksy is trying to prove just the opposite.
In the
film, Thierry is portrayed as an eccentric, off-the-wall, frankly crazy
Frenchman, who never goes anywhere without his camera. When he decides to
produce his own art and host his own art show, he does so by copying what has
already been done and calling it art. He takes pictures that have been painted
or drawn by famous artists and tweaks them a little bit, allowing them to be
called his own. On the other hand, Banksy, a renowned yet controversial street artist
creates all his own artwork, making it very original and sometimes very
shocking. Banksy’s art is the complete opposite of Thierry’s, yet he encourages
it. I believe this is because he wanted to prove to people that anyone can be “brainwashed”
into thinking that the lousiest things can be extremely valued, just based off
of who is supporting it. By having notorious street artists like Shephard
Fairey and Banksy supporting MBW’s work, it gave art-enthusiasts around the
world the sense that Thierry’s crap was actually worth something. This then
ties into the question, is the documentary real or was it just produced by
Banksy to prove a point?
There are
many aspects of the film that are unrealistic. For example, how does Thierry
finance his adventures on unemployment? Why in the world is Mrs. Guetta
supporting these activities? Also, why would Thierry allow Banksy, as well as
many other people featured in the film, to bash him on camera? This leads us to
one conclusion. Thierry is made-up. He was created by Banksy to prove his point
in a way. Now, this conclusion is hard to prove. MBW has his own website, IMBD
page, he even has a Facebook! Small indications on websites led me to believe
that Mr. Brain Wash is just another one of Banksy’s works. On Wikipedia, in the
description on Thierry, it uses phrases like, “According to the
Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop…” and “The artwork attributed
to Guetta…” There is no fact there. Nothing seems like it is set in stone. Nevertheless,
it is impossible to prove whether Banksy is behind all of this, since no one
seems to know who Banksy actually his. He might just be Shephard Fairey for all
we know. Still, MBW contest with the allegations of his life. On a sunnier side
of all this controversy, Mr. Brain Wash is holding his first UK art show on
August 5th of this year!
WEBSITES
USED:
MBW’s main
website- http://www.mrbrainwash.com/home.html
Wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Brainwash
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