Street Art’s Conflicted Relationship With Commerce - An Analysis of Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop”

Art and commerce do not always go hand-in-hand.  “When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires,” says a street artist whose identity is anonymous and who is very critical of commercialism.  Mr. Brainwash – a new pop artist on the scene – is very commercial, starting with his name.  Mr. Brainwash produces mass quantities of easily accessible recycled popular images for purposes of selling for large sums of money.  He draws inspiration from the original pop artist, Andy Warhol.  Warhol was interested in commerce and mass production, as well, but his life also seemed to be its own living work of art which has shaped the way fame and commercialism are viewed to this day.  Mr. Brainwash is kind of a living work of art as well, more interesting than the actual art he creates.

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