Street Artist Banksy: Exit Through The Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop marks the feature-film debut of notorious street artist Banksy. The documentaries focus is French-born L.A. thrift-shop owner Thierry Guetta, whose apparent compulsion to videotape every moment of his life led him to document the phenomenon of contemporary street art. Guetta's cousin, a street artist known as Space Invader, allowed the avid cameraman to tape him as he illegally spread his artwork, and Space Invader also introduced him to other street artists, whose work Guetta captured on tape. Eventually, Guetta hooked up with Shepard Fairey, who was

Street art is more than just painting something beautiful or cool on a public wall. It’s about the people who decide what should be shown in public space, the messages that are advertised, and how the messages affect us all. (Croteau, David. Ch.4Pg113). Banksy has made himself known for doing politically inspired pieces of artwork for example, by critiquing entities like capitalism, war, and hypocrisy. Political satire is often used to analyze one’s society and policies. It “interrupts the process of normalization”( Hebdige, Dick. Pg 18) . It is simultaneously humorous and smart while exposing something which the satirist perceives as wrong or ridiculous. Banksy’s is known for using satire in his work. “Exit Through the Giftshop is, in itself, satirical commentary on various aspects of the art world, from the commercialization of contemporary art to the endless subjective debate on what constitutes an