exit through the gift shop

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/banksy-shenanigans-not-welcome-at-oscars/?scp=3&sq=banksy&st=cse

There's so much I have to say about Banksy. A few years ago, I was convinced he was just a popular street artist appealing to younger demographics because of his persistant law breaking and secret identity. He was like a cliche super villian. However his recent film, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" COMPLETELY changed my opinion about him. I am now convinced that he is one of the greatest (and perhaps most sinister) artists alive today.

There's a big debate over if Thierry Guetta is Banksy or not- I don't think he is. He's just an easily manipulated man who became the subject of an artistic experiment. Banksy used him to turn the lens of the camera off himself, off Mr. Guetta even, and focused it succicinctly on the world of fine art in all its fickle shallowness. Banksy in fact created Mr. Brainwash, a sort of Frankenstien resurrection of a pop art icon. And the art world totally fell for it. Now Mr. Brainwash is getting Oscar invites, recieving awards, shmoozing with the most famous artists in the world, and somewhere in the shadows, Banksy is laughing his ass off.

If you haven't seen Exit Through the Gift Shop yet, I highly recommend it. Especially if you are working in the fine art industry. It's so easy to make it big if you've got enough capital to drive you (and enough designers to do all your work for you). An ugly truth.