Street Art Movie… destructive or insightful?
Exit Through the Gift Shop is a new documentary about the underground lives of street artists. The man shooting the documentary is actually the focus of the film- just a guy with a camera who stumbles upon this counter-culture going on in France and decides to capture it all.
Its coming to the Century Center Theatre in Chicago on April 30th and I really can’t wait to see this. Street art is not I practice I ever gave much thought to, but given the recent Chicago events covered by my school newspaper, F Newsmagazine, it has been coming up more than ever. Our last issue discussed the “bombing” (I assume thats the same as tagging?) of the modern wing of the Art Institute, as well as the recent death of graffiti artist who was chased by police and drowned in the Chicago River while trying to escape.
I hate to see buildings with angry words or unattractive imagery carelessly thrown up across their exterior. Judging by the preview of Exit Through the Gift Shop however, this documentary seems to provide a taste of the artistic merit that some of these taggers possess. I’d love to see a perspective on this culture that I, as of yet, do not understand.
