Why "Exit through the Gift Shop" makes my blood boil

Art for the common man.  You don’t have to go to an exhibit, or a museum, or a gallery.  To see this art, all that’s needed to get our art fix is to walk out into those city streets and keep a sharp eye out. Of course, I’m talking about graffiti art.  An artist’s creation of expression placed in everyday places for everyday people to view.   The artist wants to be heard, and display a message for everyone to see.  The motivation doesn’t lie in money or benefits, but the simple fact that the artist wanted to because it’s important to them. 

 

Artists that hold the spotlight in Banksy’s Exit through the Gift Shop include Space Invader, Shepherd Fairy, and Banksy himself.  Each has their own style and message.  Space Invader pastes his Space Invader characters across cities.  Shepherd Fairy posting his ‘Obey’ posters on walls, billboards, everywhere.  However, in my opinion, Banksy’s works have the most to say.  At one point in the film, Banksy sets up a mock blow up Guantanamo Bay prisoner in Disney Land in protest of the treatment that goes on in the infamous prison.  Furthermore, Banksy sets up a gallery showing and paints an elephant the same design as the wallpaper of the gallery.  Essentially, stating that people are blind to what’s right in front of them. 

To these artists, it’s about expression. 

However the artists aren’t the protagonists in this film.  No the main role goes to Thierry Guetta, a merchant from LA who loves to film everything.  Eventually Thierry gets involved into graffiti art through his supposed relation – Space Invader.  It escalates to Thierry meeting Banksy himself.  At that point, Thierry had a very encompassing view of what the graffiti art movement was about. 

Now I had no problem with this Frenchman from California.  I really didn’t.  Until he tried to make art himself toward the end of the film. All those styles Thierry was exposed to, as well as ones he had picked up from books, were manufactured, commercialized, into his own gallery showing.  Thierry hired artists to create for him – having no talent himself.  His show was a success.  Thousands of people came to his show Life is Beautiful.  Shortly afterwards his pieces would sell for thousands of dollars apiece.  Now where is the message there?  Was Thierry really ‘all about the movement’ or was he in it for the money?

It looked like it was about the money to me.  As an artist myself, Thierry complete lack of style, originality and even tact, burns me to no end.  He made money off of others’ skill and creativity…

But maybe that righteous fury that the film evokes is the point?  There’s speculation that the film is a mockumentary.  Something Banksy created to send another message to the world.  To show how wrong commercialized art really is.  To juxtapose creativity, originality and style with cheap knock offs that don’t have any meaning what so ever.