(Photo: Tatiana Arbogast)
Mid-City ~ Los Angeles
Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy's film about Mr. Brainwash and the duping of the L.A. art world, has been nominated for an Oscar this year. If you haven't seen it, you should, it's a pretty dope mind-fuck about vapid, artist-commissioned work managing to get its grip on millions of dollars, praise, and buttloads of media attention through the endorsement of a still anonymous mega-talent who risks life, limb, and international imprisonment to make real statements. Anyway, this piece recently went up where Mr. Brainwash (or Banksy or whomever) has frequently sported murals of his/their own. The hoodied Oscar, complete with a faux red carpet and not so fake Storm Troopers, seems to blend a bit of the stencil styles and deep and shallow symbolism of both men (respectively) in one piece, furthering the mystery.
