By Chris M. Johnson

The 2010 film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” explores the street art of many influential modern artists, most notably the work of British artist Banksy. If you don’t know Banksy, you need to. Banksy has severed the lines of street graffiti art and political pop art, resulting in a hybrid of moderately offensive social commentary and providing a psycho-image of what we are all thinking. Some of his more famous works include: two male British police officers deep in a passionate kiss; a giant rat tagging a wall, proclaiming, “So little to say… and so much time;” Israeli children peering through the country’s concrete West Bank barrier at a palm-tree paradise. Each elaborate piece tells its own story – each story illegal.

“There is a legal gray area around what I do,” said Banksy in the film, commenting on the legitimate sanction surrounding his work.

So what’s it all for? Is Banksy really attempting to make a statement or is he just a run-of-the-mill vandal making his mark while using exceptional skill?

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” may shed some light on that answer. Banksy has been active for years now. His work has been available to many, aided by the vast database of the Internet. The art eludes no one.

Banksy’s most elusive work to date, however, may very well be “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” This so-called documentary follows videographer Thierry Guetta and his quest to capture every notable modern street artist in the middle of his craft. His major dramatic question comes in the form of Banksy. Not a soul can point him in the direction of the graffiti artist. It comes only as happenstance that he comes in contact with his payload: Banksy.

Soon after, Guetta captures the artist tagging skilled works on Los Angeles and London walls. While Banksy reluctantly allows Guetta to film his entire figure, he does obscure his face. He allows his craft to be committed to film by showing his hands and silhouette carefully spacing and pressing his work to a building’s wall. All the while, each artist filmed by Guetta is under the impression that he is filming hours and hours of footage to meld into an artwork of his own: a documentary highlighting the works of influential street artists to give them their due among modern painters and sculptors.

The result was less than desirable.

Guetta emerged from editing eight years of footage with a film called “Life Remote Control,” a psychotic hour and a half of quick cuts and sound bites that plays like the most insane Aphex Twin music video, on hallucinogens. Not amused, Banksy decided to turn the camera on Guetta himself and give him what was construed as a direct order: Put the camera down and make your own art.

The result turned into an LA phenomenon. After a promising plug from LA Weekly and weeks of preparation, Guetta’s first art exhibit, titled “Life is Beautiful,” went up and his works grossed over $1 million.

The man who could barely use a camera created satirical pop art that grossed a fortune. How could this have happened?

Banksy may have had a lot to do with it. With his knack for creating art to make the gallery buzz and make authority figures quiver, it would make total sense that he would take on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Guetta’s exhibit, which introduced him as Mr. Brainwash, provided commentary on pop art’s decontextualization of popular figures. “Exit Through the Gift Shop” may be doing the exact same thing.

The film has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature in the 2011 Academy Awards. This film may be Banksy’s most veiled creation to date, exposing how easy it can be to confuse the real with the fabricated among American thought on the aesthetic. This may all be real. It could be the most cinematic prank of all time. The real show begins when the awards, airing Feb. 27, are announced. Win or lose, the statement has already been made. Banksy has already pointed the aerosol can right in the face of Hollywood, and ignited.