#46



Exit Through the Gift Shop

An earnest and fascinating documentary about street art, until it isn’t. Even among those who have no problem proclaiming street art to be legitimate art, there are still people who have a problem with Thierry Guetta, who ten years later seems less like a psychotic opportunist swept up in the scene and more like one of the world’s most notable pre-instagram, post-authenticity success stories.

In fact, Banksy was again ahead of the game by crafting a film so intellectually gripping and visually seductive nobody ever much cared if the entire thing was an elaborate ruse. Yes, it’s about street art, but on another level it’s about the nature of art criticism, even art itself, and how celebrity effects everything. By a certain point we are so deep inside the rabbit hole, the only question that makes sense is the one hinted at by the film’s title: if someone is willing to pay, does anything else even matter?