Exit Through the Gift Shop
★ 7.5 · 2010 · 86m · Documentary
Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.
More Like This
Art in an Age of Mass Culture
1991
Art in an Age of Mass Culture pulls back the curtain and takes a look at the cultural climate surrounding MoMA's now famed exhibition, "High and Low: High Art and Popular Culture". Opening in the fall of 1990, the show placed a spotlight on the rapid merging of consumerism and the artistic avant-garde. Curated by Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik and featuring work from artists such as Jeff Koons and Roy Lichtenstein, "High and Low" ignites conversations of mass culture and our society's ever-changing relationship with the arts.
More info →
Thomas Hart Benton
1989 · ★ 7.8
Thomas Hart Benton's paintings were energetic and uncompromising. Today his works are in museums, but Benton hung them in saloons for ordinary people to appreciate.
More info →
I'm Too Sad to Tell You
1971 · ★ 6
This short film is part of a mixed media artwork of the same name, which also included postcards of Ader crying, sent to friends of his, with the title of the work as a caption. The film was initially ten minutes long, and included Ader rubbing his eyes to produce the tears, but was cut down to three and a half minutes. This shorter version captures Ader at his most anguished. His face is framed closely. There is no introduction or conclusion, no reason given and no relief from the anguish that is presented.
More info →
Memorex - 30th Anniversary Special Edition
2023
The infamous "Memorex" tape circulated the mid-west underground scene in the mid-’90s. Shot in 1993, the film captures a transient slice of post-’80s, pre-Y2K youth culture on the eve of a new century. Following a tribe of teenage heshers and burnouts at a skate park punk show, the film is a snapshot of the stray children of the boomer generation as they navigate their anxieties on the brink of social, global, and digital upheaval. Now, on its 30th anniversary, the original VHS tape has been restored in 4K, revealing a cultural time capsule of pre-9/11 American youth; a candid documentation of a moment both electric and uncanny.
More info →
Working Class
2011 · ★ 5.2
Loosely based on Charles Dicken’s book “A Tale of Two Cities”, Working Class tells the tale of underground street artists Mike Giant and Mike Maxwell and their decade long friendship that started with a tattoo. The story is told through the cities they call home by, cutting back and forth between the neighborhoods of San Francisco and San Diego, as the artists talk about their life philosophies and the work they create.
More info →
Jackass: The Movie
2002 · ★ 6.3
Johnny Knoxville and his band of maniacs perform a variety of stunts and gross-out gags on the big screen for the first time. They wander around Japan in panda outfits, wreak havoc on a once civilized golf course, they even do stunts involving LIVE alligators, and so on.
More info →This Is Not a Dream
2012
The video revolution of the 1970s offered unprecedented access to the moving image for artists and performers. This Is Not a Dream explores the legacies of this revolution and its continued impact on contemporary art and performance. Charting a path across four decades of avant-garde experiment and radical escapism, This Is Not a Dream traces the influences of Andy Warhol, John Waters and Jack Smith to the perverted frontiers of YouTube and Chatroulette, taking in subverted talk shows and soap operas, streetwalker fashions and glittery magic penises along the way.
More info →
Schama on Rembrandt: Masterpieces of the Late Years
2014
Simon Schama explains the style, theme and concept of Rembrandt's late masterpieces.
More info →
Greer Ralston – Giving It All To Art
2024
An intimate portrait of figurative artist Greer Ralston as she astonishes us with her exceptional talent and tells of her plans to devote herself solely to art.
More info →
Tales of the American
2017 · ★ 4
Seemayer Studios presents a new documentary about the American Hotel in downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District that surrounds it. Since 1979, the American Hotel has been the beating heart of a rich community of artists who began moving into the deserted factory buildings between Alameda and the Los Angeles River.
More info →
Stelarc - Suspending Disbelief
2025
Melbourne-based Stelarc burst into prominence in the early 1970s with confronting, and outrageous public art performances. Following his mantra that ‘the body is obsolete’ he set about testing the limits of his own body in a series of death-defying stunts. Stelarc has always fought to escape the force of gravity. A third arm, an extra ear, a cheeky prosthetic head and an ambidextrous hand all play parts in this lively biopic as Stelarc wrangles the intersection between humanity and technology.
More info →