Exit Through The Gift Shop Essay

When one typically thinks about ‘art’, one usually associates iconic pieces such as Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or even Michelangelo’s David to name a few. As humans evolved, so did their art pieces and the interpretations people had over whether or not the ‘artwork’ is truly a work of art. In the past, being an artist was highly respected, such as in the times of the Renaissance where they were alongside philosophers and others of the sort, an example being Leonardo Da Vinci. Nowadays, the arts are often looked at with disdain due to people believing they are simple and lack rigor compared to other fields such as the medical field. One form of art that experiences this severely is street art which is the focus of Banksy’s documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Banksy has two main points in the film, which is to give the audience a brief history of street art along with displaying the growth of an artist, that being Mr. Brainwash or Thierry Guetta, a main protagonist in the film.
The making of street art can be seen as an illicit activity in many parts of the world, and often can get people arrested if they are caught in the act by authorities. In order to gain interest from the audience, the film includes footage of artists breaking the law and in the process of placing their artwork in public areas where their art does not belong. This causes audiences to get a boost of adrenaline, similar to that of the artists and makes them feel slightly more connected to them. In order to catch them in this activity, Banksy uses Guetta's raw footage captured from his video camera which also makes it credible since it was caught first-handedly. Guetta followed many artists around to capture the creation of their artwork, some being Shepard Fairey, Space Invader, Borf and Banksy