Exit; Street Art
March 12th, 2010

Graffiti or Art
It’s been a question of debate for many years — for some there is simply no right answer. However, if the legendary Banksy was caught creating one of his “master pieces”, which would no doubt sell for thousands, he would likely be accosted, abused and potentially remanded by authorities.
Regardless of its cultural influence or artistic merit, street art is a definitive legal gray area that is only occasionally recognised in the public domain (and through public funding), one such festival to do this was the recent Base festival which took place at the end of February in the Ulster Hall. Over two days the main hall was converted to a workspace for numerous local and foreign artists — they got on with painting while being peered at by the curious public; who, when they got bored watching the paint dry, could turn towards the stage to watch local bands perform.

In the beginning there was Invader who pasted posters of Space Invaders around the streets of Paris, an idea inspired unto him by his cousin, Thierry Guetta, a likable Frenchman with a compulsion for recording everything with his video camera. Naturally he would take his camera with him in the dark of the night as Space Invaders took over the city, and soon he was introduced to other renegade nocturnal artists including Shepard Fairey, creator of ‘Obey Giant‘, and subsequently, the Obama poster. There were no plans for the footage. That hadn’t even entered his mind. The tapes were simply thrown into boxes. Many unlabeled. No order given. He just recorded what he saw.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
It wasn’t until much later, when Banksy, the illusive creature that he is, came, suddenly, unexpectedly; yet to much delight, into Thierry’s life, that the recorded footage began to be put together. It was decided that a documentary would be made; Banksy was the final piece of the jigsaw, the current biggest name in the world street art scene, and Thierry became his right-hand man in LA. He was now a documentary film-maker.
After leading the Bristol-born artist to the best locations, helping him any way he could, and, in time, becoming his most trusted and loyal accomplice, Thierry played a “trailer” for him of what had come of the last few years of recording. It was shit, and not the documentary it should have been. It is here the tables are turned. Banksy tells the now failed French film maker to go and make his own art. And so, under the name Mr Brainwash (MBW) he does. He creates more shit. But his shit makes thousands of dollars in an over-hyped, over-produced exhibition of “art work” produced en masse.
How much of this is real and how much is crafted is a mystery to the viewer. A certain amount of insight is given to the history and workings of these artists and the sub-culture of street art, while raising the question of its very validity as art, or simply duplicating what is already there and pointing out its own worthlessness, our dependence on materialism, objects and symbols though rebranding, recreating and remanufacturing the work of others before them.
The only truth is that once again, Banksy is laughing at society. Is everything art? Is none of it art? How much of the film is real? Maybe all of it. Maybe that’s not the question.
Exit Through the Gift Shop opens in the QFT today and runs until 25th March: details.
Alongside the screening, local street artist Kev Largey will have a number of pieces on display in an exhibition which opens at 6pm today, 12th March.
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