My First Graffiti Blog
Today I watched Banksy's documentary on Thierry Guetta's (aka Mr. Brain Wash) "Exit Through the Gift Shop" which featured graffiti artists such as Banksy, Space Invader, and Shephard Fairey. What started out as an amusing story, turns into a big pile of rubbish and self absorbsion.
Guetta is a self proclaimed camera junkie who films EVERYTHING from his life. Guetta begins following Space Invader's daring antics while they roam from building to building putting up Space Invader's alien icons. He then films other street graffiti artists from Los Angeles, and winds up in London following Banksy, an elusive, hooded Batman of the graffiti art scene. (Banksy was asked to be filmed with his voice and image blurred to keep up his mystique).
Over the years, Guetta has a plethora of tapes and puts together a documentary which he believes is a brilliant film. To Bansky's disappointment, the film is a bunch of warbled images shifting from one to another, making no sense at all. Guetta becomes enamored with Bansky and believe he could do his own style of graffiti art.
Guetta produces his art with the help of other street artist-who he absolutely gives no credit to in the process. The artists fervently work day and night to make his one-man show a success, but Guetta is only interested in boasting to the press what great art he has created. To my surprise, the public adores Mr. Brain Waste, er, Brain Wash and sells his poor excuse of prints for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Guetta's delusions of grandeur is downright nauseating as he boast about the accomplishments of bringing a fresh look to Pop Art. Bansky, Shepard, and a few others have a completely different view on his art which Bansky has eloquently sums it up by stating "Mr. Brainwash is a force of nature.... and I don't mean in a good way."
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