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Check This Out: Banksy's Oscar Street Art, or Just Mr. Brainwash?
by Alex Billington
February 1, 2011
Source: LAist, Movieline
One of the surprise Oscar nominations this year is for Banksy's street art documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, which was not only one of Sundance 2010's hits, but has gone on to achieve a cult status. When he received the nom, Banksy said in a statement: "I don't agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I'm prepared to make an exception for the ones I'm nominated for." Now a giant street art mural has been discovered in Los Angeles (by LAist and Movieline) and it looks like it's either a Banksy creation in support of his Oscar nomination or work by Mr. Brainwash (most likely the case). Either way, it's pretty damn cool.
We've selected a few good shots below, but you can see plenty more on either Movieline or LAist if you wish.
As much as we'd all love to believe that Banksy is making his mark on Hollywood with this awesome bit of art, both LAist and Movieline seem to believe this is the work of Mr. Brainwash (aka Thierry Guetta), the artist who is the focus of the Exit Through the Gift Shop doc. It was found on La Brea Ave. near San Vicente which is where an Oscar-themed Marion Cotillard piece was found in 2008. No matter who's creation it is, I totally love it, and I would love to see Banksy take home the Oscar (wouldn't that be something). The awards anticipation is already exciting, but seeing this and knowing there's some mystery behind it makes me more excited to see of Exit Through the Gift Shop can rock the Academy Awards. Who wants Banksy to win?
24 Comments
1
Who cares if we want Banksy to win. What matters is that Banksy Deserves to win.
ScottM92 on Feb 1, 2011
2
I would just love to see him show up to the oscars in a ski mask...
slapohapo2831 on Feb 1, 2011
3
Surprise nominations? How the fudge so? It was one of THE best documentaries released this year with a wide release and rampant global buzz throughout its run! Are you also surprised when it gets dark at night?
Voice of Reason on Feb 1, 2011
4
Check out the trailer to the other Banksy movie here http://howtosellabanksy.com
Howtosellabanksy on Feb 1, 2011
5
Personally, I'm rooting for Waste Land to win the Best Documentary Oscar.
Sean Kelly on Feb 1, 2011
6
"Move Along, Move Along.."
Snears on Feb 1, 2011
8
meh dont care
A5J4DX on Nov 13, 2018
9
meh dont care
A5J4DX on Nov 13, 2018
10
this is definitely a brainwash. brainwash creates shallow self promotional bullshit using pop icons. banksy creates meaningful street art.
jt williams on Feb 1, 2011
11
i hate banksy. i watched "exit through the gift shop" on marcos recommendation and i HATED it. i couldn't hate a movie any more than i hated that one.
Anonymous on Feb 1, 2011
12
...why?
LLJK_Poochie on Feb 1, 2011
13
i expected it to be a straight documentary about banksy and it wasn't. it spent too much time on that thierry guy. i didn't care for the camera work either. i thought the first part of the movie with thierry and his interest with street artists was boring. i wanted a documentary about banksy. and this wasn't that.
Anonymous on Feb 1, 2011
14
ok... 1) It was originally never meant to even be a documentary. The guy just had an obsession with cameras and video and shot everything. The only reason he got into street art was because he stumbled onto a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy who did that. It was really a documentary about how the documentary got made, which I thought was kind of interesting subject matter for a documentary. 2) Did you hate banksy before you watched the documentary? Why would you want to watch it if you hate him? Especially since you apparently were under the impression that it was about him... That doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, I guess I can understand in a weird way. I hate Hitler, but I watch the occasional documentary about him. But banksy isn't going around gassing jews or anything... he's spraypainting stencil images of rats on walls. A straight-up documentary about a guy doing that for two hours is going to be kinda boring. They're obviously not going to talk too much about banksy, cause he doesn't want people to know who he is. MBW is like the anti-banksy, which is why the documentary is so interesting to me. They guy idolizes and wants to be like banksy, but his approach and philosophy to what he's doing is almost directly opposed to what banksy is doing. I mean, here's a guy who probably knows more about banksy than anyone on the planet, but he totally doesn't get what banksy's all about. Or maybe he totally gets it, and he's just more honest about it than everyone else. I found it interesting as hell. I don't think it's the best documentary, tho. Probably a tie between Restrepo and Wasteland. I kinda hope Restrepo wins, personally.
Anonymous on Feb 3, 2011
15
wow! lots of questions 🙂 first - i don't hate banksy........i don't like him either- complet ambivalence. i never expected anything out of the film. marco (one of the FS guys) had this on his best-of-the-year list and i hadn't seen it; so i watched it. i never felt it had any cohesion and came across like many disjointed scenes/images. one point you made above is this:"They guy idolizes and wants to be like banksy, but his approach and philosophy to what he's doing is almost directly opposed to what banksy is doing." end quote.........that is a GOOD point. it's not enough to change my opinion that this was not a well made film (doc or otherwise) and it's lack of focus is what i felt really drug it down. as far as watching docs on subjects i hate - i LOVE docs. and docs are to inform people about the subject at hand. i don't like religious fanaticism or the rwandan genocide but still enjoy the docs on the them because i LEARN a lot. as far as this doc - it isn't that i thought i'd learn about banksy in particular(he isn't that facinating to me, quite honestly)........rather, i' thought it'd be more of an expose on street artists. what it ended up looking like to me was a disjointed, unfocused mess - and i don't mean that as an attack or insult. we all have different interpretations of what we watch. as far as best doc of last year - i'd pick restrepo, but wasteland was excellent. have you seen "sweetgrass" or "the devils miner", or "food inc." or "Blue Gold: World Water Wars"? these are some interesting docs made in the last few years. thanks for the reply - i enjoy the discussion.
Anonymous on Feb 3, 2011
16
Rather see someone else win
Duck on Feb 1, 2011
17
I am not going to say I hated "Exit Through the Gift Shop" but it wan't really that interesting. In all honesty it felt like a skate video.
Goudos on Feb 1, 2011
18
Beevis you bunghole, If you HATE a movie because you thought it was something it wasn't, that's your fault. Why would you think it was only about banksy? The trailers did not give that impression. You should read a synopsis or something first, then you can stop hating awesome movies.
Theotherbluth on Feb 1, 2011
19
I very much enjoyed the film. I had no reservations or expectations when I saw it and I was happy with it. I love Shephard Fairey, and enjoy Banksy's Art, so I enjoyed the movie very much. I hope these guys keep up the good work as it is very nice to notice something by them or the other talented Artists. That picture of the rat at Sundance was very cool that it is still there a year later too. The question I have is hasnt Thierry seen the movie? I dont want to give any spoilers but Im confused as to why he would promote it... Also everyone has a right to either like or dislike a movie, although personaly if I expect a movie to be something and it IS I am usually disappointed. I hope this movie wins.
Topher on Feb 1, 2011
20
It's a Mr. Brainwash. I drove by as he was putting it up. He was on his phone as someone else was doing the actual painting. I live 2 blocks away from this and it was done in daylight.
guz on Feb 1, 2011
22
Banksy don't deserve doo-doo, not in the documentary category. EXIT is more fictino than documentary. GASLAND hands down.
Anonymous on Feb 6, 2011
23
Mr Brainwash is NOT an Artist The movie is a JOKE. Banksy is making fun of the art world all the way to the bank. Mr Brainwash is an extension of that. Banksy created Mr Brainwash, created his "art", created a purely fictional character that is Thiery aka Mr Brainwash, and it is a bigger joke that Mr Brainwash's "art work" sells for upwards of $50,000. Don't you get the monkey??? "Even a monkey could do it". Banksy art is representative of iconography as well.
susan on Feb 28, 2011
24
i like the comparison susan. i love banksey but c215 a little more there all great
nick wayne on Feb 28, 2011
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