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Among virtual exhibitions, podcasts, interviews, and art magazines, it is impossible not to come across something interesting related to artists and art.
These include no shortage of art films. From documentaries to full-scale Hollywood productions starring the actors of the moment, art movies are landing on both the small and the big screen.
5 art films not to be missed
From docu-films about street art, art history movies, and Pop Art films to movies in which the artwork becomes the protagonist of gripping thrillers and thrilling tales, don't miss the compelling stories of the frenetic art world.
Are you an art lover and don't know what movie to watch tonight? Here's our list of 5 movies about art that you can't miss!
The Price of Everything
The Price of Everything is a 2018 documentary film directed by Nathaniel Kahn. The film features interviews with important figures in the contemporary art scene and its market. Among the many artists there are Jeff Koons, Larry Poons, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Gerhard Richter, George Condo, Marilyn Minter, art dealer Gavin Brown, Sotheby's executive vice president Amy Cappellazzo, Simon de Pury auction house, collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson and Inga Rubenstein, and art critic Jerry Saltz.
This docu-film on contemporary art aims to access the viewer into the art world as never before thanks to the presence of the most important artists in the scene and experts on the most incandescent market. The Price of Everything dives deep into the world of contemporary art, holding a mirror up to our values and times.
We suggest you don't miss the interview with Jeff Koons and the stunning studio footage of the world's most valued artist. Between personal stories and reflections on art history, we see Koons and his collaborators during the making of the works themselves, among them the beautiful Gazing Ball and Antiquity.
The film takes its title from a quote from Oscar Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan spoken on screen by art collector Stefan Edlis.
There are many people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
Exit through the gift shop
A 2010 documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a strong>street art film directed by Banksy himself and tells, through interviews with leading artists of the scene, the story of Thierry Guetta better known as Mr. Brainwash.
The documentary begins with the very story of Thierry Guetta, an immigrant from France to Los Angeles and currently running a vintage clothing store. His obsession to always have a video camera with him leads him to film everything around himself.
While on vacation in France, he discovers that his cousin is Invader, an internationally well-known street artist. Thierry is impressed and decides to accompany Invader and his friends, including artists Monsieur André and Zevs, on their nocturnal adventures, documenting their activities.
A few months later, Invader visits Thierry in Los Angeles and arranges a meeting with Shepard Fairey, also known by his stage name Obey. The film then follows Banksy's meeting and organizing Mr. Brainwash's first exhibition "Life is Beautiful."
This is a major turning point in the life of Thierry: from the success of the exhibition Mr. Brainwash becomes a full-time street artist, increasingly sought after by collectors around the world.
Exit Through the Gift Shop was screened in 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival, generating great interest among audiences. The film was recognized with the award for best documentary in 2011 at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Basquiat
Basquiat is a 1996 film directed by Julian Schnabel based on the life of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died of a heroin overdose in 1988.
Starring actor Jeffrey Wright, in this art film an outstanding cast (in fact, the performers include Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Courtney Love, and Vincent Gallo, a real-life friend of Basquiat who makes a small cameo appearance) tells the story of the world's best-known and most valued graffiti artist.
The film is an account of the troubled life of the graffiti writer. From his life on the streets, homeless, to his meeting with Andy Warhol (played by David Bowie) that would mark the success of the art of Basquiat, who was destined to become the first black artist to have a place in the art world.
His artwork is clearly influenced by his lifestyle and the New York City environment that surrounded him. His style has been described as nervous, fierce, and energetic.
Toward the end the tones of the film darken: the writer finds himself isolated by his fame, Warhol's death, and drug abuse. It ends with a reference to Basquiat's death from a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988, at the age of 27.
Velvet Buzzsaw
Written and directed by Dan Gilroy, Velvet Buzzsaw is a Netflix production showing an art world between horror and satirical
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, who impersonates an art critic loosely based on Jerry Saltz (a well-known American critic and journalist). Together with his friend and lover Josephina, the man finds a collection of works by a man named Dease who, died alone, had ordered their destruction. The two do not honor the request and, with immediate success, exhibit his works.
This is followed by a series of paradoxical crimes for which the works themselves will be responsible, in a metaphorical tale that behind an amusing and occasionally macabre story reveals a sharp critique of the commodification of art.
The Best Offer
The Best Offer is a 2013 film by Giuseppe Tornatore in which the main character Virgil Oldman (played by Geoffrey Rush) is a skilled auctioneer who has managed to get hold of priceless canvases on the cheap. The film tells his relationship with Claire, a mysterious woman who inherited a mansion in which numerous works of art were stored.
Oldman is asked to appraise them, and from this comes a controversial love affair that will end with Claire's swindle of Oldman.
The man is left with the desire to see his beloved scammer again, in the belief that "There’s always something authentic concealed in every forgery.
