What starts as a profile of Banksy turns into a profile of the guy trying to profile Banksy, and somehow ends with a commentary on hype, capitalism, and maybe the end of art as we know it.
Thanks to Jason Klamm of Collider who first put this on my radar (he had it listed this as one of the best documentaries about creativity.))
Trailer for “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Thierry Guetta filmed thousands of hours of street art footage and dumped the tapes in boxes without watching them.
- Guetta helped Banksy sneak an inflatable Guantanamo Bay detainee doll into Disneyland, and got interrogated for four hours by Disney security.
- After failing to finish the street art doc, Guetta becomes a fake-turned-real artist named “Mr. Brainwash” and sells $1 million+ worth of work in a single show.
- Nobody can say for sure if this whole documentary is a prank pulled by Banksy on the entire art world.
Watch “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
You can find “Exit Through the Gift Shop” on Amazon (DVD/Blu-ray) or at this free link on YouTube.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 95/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 96/100 (Critics); 91/100 (Users)
Director’s Note: Officially, it’s “directed by Banksy,” though there’s still debate over how much was Banksy vs. how much was Guetta. Narration by Rhys Ifans ties it all together with a surreal tone.
Release Date: Premiered at Sundance on January 24, 2010. Wide release followed in April 2010.
My Review of “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
The Setup
Thierry Guetta starts out as a guy with a camera and a serious case of FOMO. He has no plan, he just films obsessively. His cousin happens to be the street artist Invader, which opens the door to other artists, especially Shepard Fairey. Eventually, Guetta becomes fixated on filming Banksy—the most elusive of them all. When Banksy discovers Guetta has filmed everything but can’t edit a watchable doc, he takes over and turns the lens back on Guetta. What follows is part prank, part origin story of a wildly accidental art career.
More Highlights from the Doc
- Guetta’s cousin is the artist Invader (yes, the tile mosaics guy). That’s how he first stumbles into the street art scene in 1999 in France.
- He obsessively follows artists like Shepard Fairey (“Obey”) and Ron English, eventually becoming their go-to cameraman.
- When Banksy finally agrees to be filmed, Guetta’s footage is so bad that Banksy takes over the project and turns the camera back on him.
- Banksy tells Guetta to go make his own art instead, expecting it to fail. Instead, Guetta creates a massive L.A. warehouse show with giant Warhol-style prints, fake Banksy knockoffs, and hundreds of buyers lining up.
- Guetta hires a team to do the art for him, gives vague directions, and signs everything “Mr. Brainwash.” Critics call it derivative, but buyers go wild.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Guetta never intended to be an artist—he just couldn’t stop filming everything. His shop had surveillance cameras in every corner and he carried a camera 24/7.
- Banksy appears in the film, but his face is blurred and voice digitally altered—one of the first major docs to play with anonymity that creatively.
- Guetta’s show, “Life is Beautiful,” was so successful that Madonna hired him to design her album cover (“Celebration”).
- Shepard Fairey later admits he’s not sure if Guetta is a genius, a fraud, or just got lucky at the right time.
Wrap Up
This is a Banksy doc, but it’s also a critique of hype, celebrity, and what we call “art.” Whether Guetta is a genius or a joke, I couldn’t stop watching.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc