A friend strongly recommended Exit Through the Gift Shop, featuring the graffiti artist Banksy. I watched it many months ago and haven’t been able to get the story out of my mind. Is graffiti art or vandalism? Depends on who you ask. I’m not fond of the cruder and sometimes dangerous forms it can take, but watch this superb documentary film and see what you think.

Here’s the YouTube description of the film:

“This is the inside story of Street Art – a brutal and revealing account of what happens when fame, money and vandalism collide. Exit Through the Gift Shop follows an eccentric shop-keeper turned amateur film-maker as he attempts to capture many of the world’s most infamous vandals on camera, only to have a British stencil artist named Banksy turn the camcorder back on its owner with wildly unexpected results.”

“One of the most provocative films about art ever made, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating study of low-level criminality, comradeship and incompetence. By turns shocking, hilarious and absurd, this is an enthralling modern-day fairytale… with bolt cutters.”

See the first part here, and watch the rest on YouTube.