Behind every piece of art, there is a story, a motive, and an artist. ADD SENTENCE To the average American, when they see street art, they do not think about the story behind it, the artist who created it. After watching the documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop, the unique world of street art was revealed to me. In this film, a French cameraman, Thierry Guetta, crosses paths with Bansky and ends up documenting a large portion of his work with the intention of creating a documentary about street art. However, half way through the film, the tables turn onto the focus of Guetta’s entry into the street art world and his success as a copyist of Bansky. Ultimately, at the end of the documentary, Banksy reveals the inauthenticity of Guetta’s …show more content…
The film follows the idea that street art’s authenticity, or inauthenticity, has much to do with the artists’ motivations. At the beginning of the documentary, when Guetta documents the the different street artist’s works, it is revealed that Banky appreciates other street artist who have spent years perfecting their craft, developing their own styles, and devoting their time to expressing themselves. Although Banksy argues in favor of the authenticity of art made by street artist like him, he calls into question Guetta’s art. “Each time Guetta pushes his camera into the face of a celebrity or artist at work, we cringe...We’re similarly overcome with discomfort as Guetta begins to plaster all over town drawings of himself holding a camera, copying the styles of Banksy and the street artist he has followed for so long” (BU PAPER). Most street artists are drawn to their art by their passion and their need to express themselves. It becomes unclear if Guetta does his street art for fame or for …show more content…
It is argued that Exit Through The Gift Shop is a hoax, that the story was made up for the sake of the documentary. If this argument is true, then Bansky himself created inauthentic art. The entire point of the documentary was to argue the ethics of authenticity, yet the documentary itself may not be authentic. Most people see the documentary as “a way for Banksy to tell his story but at the same time critique the street art phenomenon” (New York Times). Unfortunately,the documentary itself may make Banksy’s story become inauthentic due to the way the information was presented. “Ultimately, wondering whether “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is real or not may be moot. It certainly asks real questions: about the value of authenticity, financially and aesthetically; about what it means to be a superstar in a subculture built on shunning the mainstream; about how sensibly that culture judges, and monetizes, talent” (New York Times). The Ethics of Authenticity is an interesting new concept that Banksy brings to light in his documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. This way of thinking about art evaluates the artist and the art itself. It evaluates the motivations and passions behind the artwork and the intentions the artists have for creating the art. Although, Bansky may contradict his own ethical beliefs, ethics is a gray area, and no one has ethical beliefs that do not contradict other beliefs
Street art is a visual art created all over the streets, it can be present in a form of posters, graffiti, window paints, and murals, among others. All of those artists that chose to exhibit their art on the streets, rather than in a museum or gallery is because they are situated it in a non-art context. The products they use to produce their art works most of the time are: free hand aerosol paints, krink markers, plutonium paints and graffiti remover used to create perfect images all over the cities. Street art adorn the urban landscape, explode the skills of the artists, and finally but no less important, is constructive providing a specific social message for all the audience.
“In contrast to government-commissioned public art, street art is illicit and subversive in nature. Therefore, most street artists, including Banksy, use pseudonyms to avoid legal prosecution for vandalism.”(Chung 27) Banksy’s street art does not focus on competing with rival artists, but focuses on engaging with a broader audience in a deeper level. He provokes his audience by deeply expressing out various social practices that helps viewers to reflect and confront certain aspects together as a community. (27) The underlying message of Banksy’s art can lead towards an active involvement of street art within the community.
The entire interview was intended to a specific audience – artists. Thus, ethos was a vital technique to establish the speakers’ credibility in their commentary about the art industry. Both Wiley and M.I.A are recognized artists in their particular fields. At the onset, their credibility as artists and thus, critics of the industry are well established throughout the interview. By narrating a wealth of experience in working with different artists from different countries, their thesis about the death of art in New York is strengthened. By reputation, both artists are multi-awarded. Wiley is a Yale educated portrait painter whose work has been cited for its unique fusion-style rendering of African-American men in heroic poses. He is recipient of the Artist of the Year Award from
The film captures the graffiti arts in urban of New York, Cape Town in Africa, London, Paris, and Tokyo. They also interview these artists. Each of them gives information about them and the art they're doing, or the reason why they do it. Some give a brilliant answer with expression. Many people answer it in a different way, but it is all similar in belief.
Thierry had come to the conclusion that street art doesn’t last long so all of it, including the art itself and the artist, needs to be documented before it disappears forever. Thierry was soon given the idea to create a street art documentary by Shepard Fairy. This is presumably why so many street artists let him film them, because they didn’t know that there was actually no documentary in the making and that this documentary was almost more like an excuse to film. But with all the artists that Thierry was filming, he knew that he was missing one thing and that thing was
Many art forms contain strong messages and emphasise the particular beliefs, values and opinions held by those who produce them. Art is the purging or release of emotional tension within us. Art completes what nature is unable to finish; expressing the author's emotional power through imaginative or technical skills such as photography, painting, performing art and media. Centuries of art have been explored through Political, emotional, beauty and cultural traditions, which have impacted generations. Some artists produce their ideas from their own personal imaginings, private struggles and strong emotional visions. Artist such as Barbara Kruger and Bansky deeply dive into the emotional, political side of the art world. There pieces were effective
Banksy is one of the most famous and mysterious street artists in the world. Helen Weaver, the art in an American magazine writer stated that,” Banksy was born in 1974 and was raised in the Bristol UK area. When he first started spray painting, he was ten years old.” “(1). Weaver Helen.” Banksy.” Art in America. Sep 18.2009. Web.11 Nov.2015. Banksy enjoyed the attention he received from the public. He loved using street art to express his inner feelings. He mostly uses graffiti to express his feelings. In the early years the authorities worked hard to remove his pictures from public places. They considered his art vandalism and destructive to the public. Vandalism is when someone deliberately destroys the public or private property, however, the public fought to save some of his pictures from authorities. Banksy is a very influential artist in his time. He was well respected and recognized by his fans all over the world.
The cutting edge of the public art development, connected with the hip-hop society of breakdancing and rap music, began with African-American and Latino teenagers in Philadelphia and New York in the late 1960s (MacDonald 1). At that time graffiti to most, was considered to be a form of art work. Regardless of those that thought of it as art, there were and are still numerous individuals that loathe the graffiti movement. Works of art have been dependably charming for ages, as it is a method for self-expression and inventiveness. Artistic expressions have advanced in many ways, such as public canvases offering an approach to modern day unique artwork. Graffiti is progressively turning into a hobby. Although one of the major controversies of graffiti surround the statement that it is not art and considered vandalism, graffiti allow artists to display grateful meanings, skills and expressions to the public.
At one point in the film, street art became the rave and was being auctioned off in auction houses, but Banksy and other artists did not believe that the focus for their artwork was about the money; rather, it was the passion and expressional aspect of their art pieces. He believed that Thierry's video footage would be the perfect way to depict this passion, but a majority of the footage Thierry had was unusable. However, the usable footage that was used in the documentary was enough to demonstrate the true passion some street artists had. Many have different motives of creating their artwork as well. For example, Borf, creates street art in commemoration of his friend that passed away and even his alias is in memory of the friend who passed. Banksy’s purpose of creating art is often as a form to criticize social problems or just for humor at times. A very striking example of his artwork as a form to express social problems was when he went to the Gaza strip and created a trompe-l'oeil pieces of street art against the wall, which at the time was experiencing a vast amount of conflict and civil unrest. This was extremely dangerous, but Banksy managed to place it on the wall without any harm, which shows his dedication to his
The world of art is plagued by forgeries. In the case of some artists, such as Vermeer, there are often nearly as many fakes out there as there are genuine pieces. The infamous forger Han van Meegeren was known to have made at least 11 forged Vermeer’s that were accepted as genuine until his arrest in the 1940’s (Wynne, 257). Wolfgang Beltracchi made millions selling pieces that his wife claimed to have inherited from an uncle, telling brokers, art historians, and museums that the pieces were rare works, previously unseen. In actuality, Beltracchi was using modern techniques to make paintings in the style of 20th century masters (Birkenstock, Beltracchi). These are genuine criminals, no different than people who scam the elderly via email or
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” is a documentary about French immigrant Theirry Guetta and his passion for filming street art. The majority of his film takes place in the city of Los Angeles and follows Theirry Guetta on his quest to interview numerous graffiti artists including Banksy, an infamous graffiti artist from Britain. Banksy’s street art started out small but he eventually worked his way up to be a bigger and better sensation and soon his stencils were seen all throughout the country of Britain.
The nature of Banksy’s work is iconoclastic in the way he blatantly designs images to rebel governmental authority or depict the failings of
Art is a persons’ opinion. The definition of art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. There is no real definition for what is beautiful or appealing to the human eye. Banksy is said to be an artist by some and a graffiti lawbreaker by others. Basically, it is up to the person to define Banksy as someone who is doing the right thing verses doing the wrong thing. Banksy creates his graffiti pictures to make a stand for what he believes is the right way to look at controversial issues. Some people may not like Banksy’s graffiti because they do not have the same views as him. Some people might
In the film “Exit Through The Gift Shop” Thierry Guetta, a Los Angeles-based Frenchman decides he loves the idea of recording and starts recording everything he does, soon after this he falls in love with the idea of street art, first introduced to him by his cousin with the street name of Space Invader. Once Thierry ventures in the street art culture he comes across the anti authoritarian artist Banksy. Banksy lets Thierry film him paint street art but decides to turn the camera towards Thierry and gives him the advice to try street art himself. This makes for a great twist in the documentary, played out as a decision of the moment, however many audiences interpret the meaning of the film in different ways. Thierry's transition into a street artist demonstrates Banksy's attempt to mock the art world by documenting an un-experienced middle aged man transition from cameraman to seven figure street artist.
Banksy is a very renowned street artist who keeps his identity unknown. His artwork is portrayed by “striking images, often combined with slogans, [which] engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed” (“Banksy Biography”). He first started his bold street art in Bristol, his hometown located in London, but quickly spread to the United States of America. In the U.S., Banksy targeted the most populated cities; this was due to the fact that it was easier for him to spread his messages. With a crowded location, his lessons will extent over an audience much quicker.