“It's Art If I Say It Is!”

In Alan Rudolph's 1988 film “The Moderns” art collector Bertram Stone (wonderfully played by John Lone) destroys two Matisses and a Modigliani because the art critics who attend his opening tell him they are fakes. They aren't, the dealer who sold them to him (also wonderfully played by Genevieve Bujold) gave him the wrong paintings --- the fakes she intended to foist off onto him wind up in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But, just prior to his slaughtering of the paintings, Stone screams, “It is art if I say it is!” He says this because of the amount of money he just spent on the three pieces.

I love this movie. For one thing it has one of the most gorgeous soundtracks (by Mark Isham) I've ever heard. But also it is a riotous romp through the art scene of Paris in the 1920s. I thought of it today because I watched another movie that plays quite blatantly with the notion of what-is-art, and is it art if someone says it is?

Shepard Fairey

For long time now I've been in love with street art. It's not really the art itself that I love as much as the passion and obsession of the people who make it. The film I watched, “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, is a delicious little bit of film-making, made all the more delicious because nobody seems to know if the story told in it is true or a hoax, but either way, is it art? I'd say it certainly is.

by Banksey

The story in brief is this: a French shop owner in LA becomes obsessed with shooting videos. He becomes infatuated with street artists and begins spending nights shooting thousands of hours of video of the artists at work. In the process of doing this he is befriended by the legendary “Banksy” (who directed this film) and Shepard Fairey, the artist most famous for his Hope poster of President Barack Obama. The videographer, Thierry Guetta, claims he is making a documentary about street art but, in fact, he is just shooting video that then gets dumped into plastic Rubbermaid tubs and stored on shelves. The look into the world of these street artists is exciting and I found it quite mesmerizing – the process, the inspiration, the obsession all fascinated me but, above all, I loved their ability to look at an entire city and see it as a canvas for them to use. I loved Shepard Fairey's Andre the Giant icons long before I ever heard of this movie so watching him actually create them was, quite frankly, a thrill.

by Mr. Brainwash

As the popularity of artists like Banksy, Fairey, Invader, etc. grow, more and more pressure is put on Thierry to produce this documentary. When he finally does Banksey declares it a “piece of shit” and determines to make his own documentary of Thierry's fake documentary. Meanwhile Thierry transforms himself into a so-called street artist named Mr. Brainwash who bursts upon the L.A. art scene with a gigantic opening exhibit which sells over a million dollars in art in its first week. This by an artist who didn't exist before he decided to invent himself.

It is all a grand bit of theater which may or may not have basis in reality but the tremendous amount of footage of some of the leading street artists at work is worth the watch alone. Street art is today selling for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. Banksey is a celebrity of the art world and Shepard Fairey is now so famous he is being sued by major news coporations. How's that for success? He also designed the cover of Russell Brands' new book.

I loved this movie. I was fascinated by the filming and the story-telling and I don't frankly care if it is hoax or not. It's a damn good story and to me that makes it a work of art.

Thanks for reading.