Oscar Week Art Shows in LA: Banksy, Mr Brainwash, Rodarte, Gus Van Sant & James Franco

During the 2011 Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, several art exhibitions explored the complex relationship between cinema and contemporary art. In Beverly Hills, Mr Brainwash (Thierry Guetta) presented post-Warholian celebrity paintings, with the gallery advertising him as an 'Oscar-nominated artist' and displaying large gold statuettes. Banksy contributed two new street works: 'Crayola Shooter' (a child with a machine gun) and 'Dog Urinating'. At MOCA Pacific Design Center, the fashion duo Rodarte (Kate and Laura Mulleavy) exhibited dresses from their 2008-2010 collections alongside ballet costumes from Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan'. The standout exhibition was at Gagosian Gallery, where Gus Van Sant and James Franco swapped roles: Franco edited unseen footage from Van Sant's 'My Own Private Idaho' into two videos (52 minutes and 12 hours), while Van Sant presented eight watercolor portraits of rebellious young boys in blue, green, and mauve tones, reminiscent of David Hockney's recent work. The article notes that LA's art scene has historically defined itself in opposition to Hollywood's superficiality, citing Mike Kelley and Paul McCarthy (who worked in studios and deconstructs Disney effects).