MovieChat Forums > Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) Discussion > So Thierry is actually Banksy, yeah?

So Thierry is actually Banksy, yeah?

posted 9 years ago by JebusJones
7 replies | jump to latest

I would truly love it if it were true. Or even just if Thierry is part of the collective art project known as Banksy.

I've never had any interest in Banksy or street art beyond "oh that looks nice" so I had avoided this doco because I thought it was about Banksy and would bore me.

I think it was ultimately still about Banksy and in some form is an art project. I liked it from a film maker's perspective and I'd class it as similar to "I'm Not Here."

But yeah, I still don't really get the style of art.

[–] bmw300 9 years ago

The way I got into street art appreciation was through a Latin American Art history class in college. I was into muralisim and then through that got into street art. Check out Diego Review or Sequerios murals. They are amazing

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

I've read that Thierry is French, and emigrated to LA when he was a teenager, and Banksy is English. So how could Thierry be Banksy? But of course stranger things have happened.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

[–] maturity 9 years ago

How do you know who Banksy is? There is not even a photo of him on IMDb except he blacked out hooded + digitally altered voice version of this movie. How do we even know that is Banksy? It could be anybody. He's a criminal and does not openly do graffiti or they could ID him and charge him with a crime. Plus he seems to be running a collective based on the movie and for all we know they are just copy cats. Maybe the original artist died and he's like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

[–] bsharporflat-50959 8 years ago

How do you know who Banksy is?

We don't know who he is. Here is what we do know:

Banksy has a fairly consistent and identifiable style to his art.

The "Mr. Brainwash" art exhibit featured artworks which all resembled the Banksy style very closely.

The movie portrayed Thierry Guetta as a guy so artistically talentless, he couldn't do what any middle school media savvy student can do: edit video footage into a comprehensible film.

Given this, it is NOT conceivable that this poor dweeb would be able to raise hundreds of thousands, organize the logistics of an art exhibition, and spearhead the hype and publicity needed to achieve significant attendance to his art show.

Moreover, it is also inconceivable that this talentless person could suddenly transform himself into a master artist and social commentator in addition to the above-mentioned skills as a fund-raiser and promoter. All this incredible personal growth in the matter of a few months?

I ain't buying it. Are you?

But there is somebody in the picture who was already a master fund-raiser and self-promoter. Someone who was already a master artist and social commentator.

Whether Banksy is a group of people or some sort of sequential phantom doesn't matter. With regard to this film, what we can be sure of is:

1. Mr. Brainwash is Banksy.

2. Thierry Guetta is not Banksy

[–] maturity 8 years ago

I saw a stencil that looked like Banksy outside of a coffee shop in Kentucky. Saying he has a distinctive style is absurd. Anybody can take a picture of some graffiti and copy the style. Cut out a similar stencil...

[–] uponapyre 8 years ago

You can easily imitate a great artist, but to /be/ a great artist is all about the execution and timing.

You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, Darling!

[–] maturity 8 years ago

"Inconceivable!" You keep saying this word. I do not think it means what you think it does. Maybe Thierry was just pretending to be inept and the whole story was a lie. Maybe he is Banksy. We don't have video and photo evidence who put up every graffiti, signed Banksy. Anyone could have done it. A collective or a bunch of copy cats.

He said he mortgaged his home for the money. Given real estate in LA, that could have provided enough to lease a decaying building and get volunteers to clean it out. What struck me as unbelievable is how he would have the right to invite people to come tear that place apart and strip everything. He was renting the space. That struck me as suspicious. Unless they told him he can tear the place apart and dispose of anything as he saw fit, he could be sued for millions and lose.