Is ‘Exit’ the real thing? Don’t Banksy on it

As a former arts reporter, I used to write stories about all kinds of visual arts. I even did a story once about an artist whose work involved … road kill. Seriously.

And I have a brother who, while attending UC San Diego, studied visual arts. In fact, he was the teaching assistant in the first film course I ever took. But I lost my interest in what he was doing when, during a student show, he came up with an exhibit that had nothing in it. He called it “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Right.

So I was ready for the … uh, documentary? … that’s titled “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” which asks the question: Is contemporary art a bunch of derivative crap? It doesn’t so much offer an answer as give you everything you need to know to figure things out for yourself. Or seems to, at any rate.

The film tells the story of an amateur filmmaker, a French expatriate named Thierry Guetta. Owner of a classic-clothing store in L.A., Guetta spends his free time following street artists. His introduction to the artists who use everything from spray paint to paper cutouts comes from his cousin, known as Space Invader — whose face is blurred so, presumably, we can’t identify him.

The ostensible star of the film also has his identity masked. The elusive British artist Banksy , though, ends up being credited as the actual director. Why? Because, quite simply, Thierry makes a better subject. Most of what we see in “Exit Through the Gift Shop” came from Thierry’s camera, but it is Thierry himself who, having failed to do anything meaningful with the hundreds of hours of footage, decides to follow in Banksy’s footsteps.

Or, more likely, it is all a hoax put on by Banksy to fool the world into thinking that something important is going on here. And maybe it is. Maybe Village Voice film critic Aaron hillis has Thierry and Banksy pegged when he calls the film “not just the definitive portrait of street-art counterculture, but also a hilarious expose on the gullibility of of the masses who embrace manufactured creative personas.”

Not to mention the fact that it’s the best commentary on art since, oh, “My Kid Could Paint That.” It’s still playing at the Magic Lantern. You should check it out.

Below : The trailer for “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”