This past Thursday, December 22 was a sneak peak of “Art Show 2011,” the follow up by infamous street artist Thierry Guetta (AKA “Mr. Brainwash”) to his 2008 art show, “Life Is Beautiful.” Guetta is most known for his controversial role in the 2011 Oscar-nominated docudrama, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” directed by renowned street artist, Banksy.
Art in the Streets is the first major U.S. museum exhibition on the history of graffiti and street art, featuring the genre’s evolution from the bombing of New York’s subway cars to cholo tagging in the streets of L.A. to the contemporary street art popularized by the likes of Shepard Fairey and Banksy.
Located at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in L.A., Art in the Streets will run from April 17 to August 8, 2011, showcasing installations by 50 of the most dynamic street artists in the world. Artists include Banksy, Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Futura, Swoon, Shepard Fairey, JR, Retna, and Mister Cartoon.
We are firmly entrenched in awards season, though it could just as well be called Banksy season.
The famously incognito British artist is getting all sorts of accolades for his film “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a documentary (or mock documentary, or neither) on a French filmmaker-turned-street artist, Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash. The film is nominated for a BAFTA Award, and recently won the top prize at the Cinema Eye Awards.
And now it can add an Oscar nod.
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I remember driving around the valley as a kid, staring tiredly out the window of my mom’s Mazda Protegé, disgusted by the graffiti that littered Rosco Blvd. The three letter gang tags haphazardly sprayed upon the walls often crossed out and covered over by a rival gang. I remember thinking it to be like dogs marking their territory, and I always thought it looked ugly.
20 years later, and for some reason unknown to me, I don’t see nearly as much of that junk graffiti. What I do see is a movement of artists using the urban landscape as their canvas, blessing cities with a sense of wonder and awe. I’ve just recently entered this rabbit hole and I am enamored by the beauty and baffled by the vision of these clever zealots. If you are already privy, forgive me and carry on, but for the rest of you, take a second to revel at the imagination and vision of these captivating urban artists. Let the yarn bombing and graffiti animation begin… Oh and don’t forget about the inflatables division. You’ve got to see this.
Today’s bloggin best…
- Stream the entire new LCD Soundsystem album. LCD Soundsystem
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- Watch Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid trailer. 2DopeBoyz
- Hidden messages in the run-off groove of famous records. Public Collectors
- Diplo gets fitted for a suit by Ford Models. The Fader
- Stussy x Pete Rock x DJ Premier. Nah Right
Last night, the creme of LA’s street art scene gathered in downtown’s stunningly ornate Los Angeles theater to see the premier of Banksy’s latest buzz-worthy project, a full length film—Exit Through the Gift Shop. The film tracks the creation and meteoric rise of Mr. Brainwash, the street art (artifice) sensation who stunned LA’s art world last year by producing a mammoth show in the old CBS offices in Hollywood. The story line is well known: amateur videographer Thierry Guetta spends a decade videotaping street artists like Shepard Fairy, Invader and Banksy, documenting their own rise within the pop culture zeitgeist. Banksy encourages Thierry to produce his own art show, which becomes a mammoth hit based on the buzz created by his affiliations with the street art elite. The end result is a new “name” artist of questionable talent, and a global art scene questioning its own hype. But how much of the story is fact, and how much is suspect? Banksy’s entire career is based around art as comic gag. Is it beyond him to orchestrate a narrative that confronts the hype befallen himself and his peers in the past few years? Here’s three reasons why Exit Through The Gift Shop might not be what it seems.
Today’s bloggin best…
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- It’s about time someone sued Prince for being a buzz kill. Prefix
- New York Times lied, the Arcade Fire’s credibility died. Pitchfork
- The Clash Converse are the punkness. Converse Blog
- Will people pay to hear Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook talk? Spinner