Films about the Contemporary Art World
by skepticskeptical | created - 26 Jul 2019 | updated - 6 months ago | PublicSince the second half of the twentieth century, the art world has metamorphosed into a gigantic business enterprise, affecting everyone from artists to collectors to gallery owners and curators. These films look closely at the effects of the radical commodification of art. The artists who make a name for themselves today are also enormously rich, given the new dynamics in play and the increasing influence of ¨collectors¨ who view artworks as commodities, which they acquire in many cases only to flip for enormous profits.
Note: one of the films I recommend is not listed at IMDB. Money Art (2016), directed by Massimo Brega and produced by Kepach in conjunction with RAI.
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1. Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World (2017)
TV-PG | 84 min | Documentary
An overview of the major players in the contemporary art market and of the economic factors that motivate those individuals and institutions.
Director: Barry Avrich | Stars: Marina Abramovic, Katherine Arnold, Leon Black, Amy Cappellazzo
Votes: 445
2. The Price of Everything (2018)
TV-14 | 98 min | Documentary
With unprecedented access to pivotal artists and the white-hot market surrounding them, this film dives deep into the contemporary art world, holding a fun-house mirror up to our values and times.
Director: Nathaniel Kahn | Stars: Jeff Koons, Paul Schimmel, Larry Poons, Stefan Edlis
Votes: 1,333 | Gross: $0.09M
3. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Crime
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Director: Banksy | Stars: Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Space Invader, Debora Guetta
Votes: 68,837 | Gross: $3.29M
4. Con Artist (2009)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary
A once-famous millionaire "business artist" is forced to confront his own legendary obnoxious behavior, while trying to find love through fame.
Director: Michael Sládek | Stars: Molly Barnes, Andy Behrman, Mike Cockrill, Jacob Collins
Votes: 115
5. The Square (2017)
R | 151 min | Comedy, Drama
A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
Director: Ruben Östlund | Stars: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, Terry Notary
Votes: 77,354 | Gross: $1.50M
6. The Next Big Thing (2014)
Not Rated | 71 min | Documentary, News
Over the last few years, the world of the contemporary arts has been subjected to drastic change. Our modern-day taste is no longer determined by the great museums or by the critics but by ... See full summary »
Director: Frank van den Engel
Votes: 6
7. Banksy Does New York (2014)
Not Rated | 79 min | Documentary
Documentary chronicling the famed street artist's "31 works of art in 31 days" in New York city.
Director: Chris Moukarbel | Stars: Beth Stebner, Keegan Hamilton, Jaime Rojo, Steven P. Harrington
Votes: 2,314
8. Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery (2014)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A mesmerizing, thought-provoking yet surprisingly amusing documentary on the life and times of Wolfgang Beltracchi, who tricked the international art world for nearly 40 years by forging ... See full summary »
Director: Arne Birkenstock | Stars: Wolfgang Beltracchi, Helene Beltracchi, Henrik Hanstein, James Roundell
Votes: 1,938
9. Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back (2016)
95 min | Documentary
An art world upstart, provocative and elusive artist Maurizio Cattelan made his career on playful and subversive works that send up the artistic establishment, until a retrospective at the ... See full summary »
Director: Maura Axelrod | Stars: Francesco Bonami, Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, Rosemary Melene
Votes: 151
10. Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? (2006)
PG-13 | 74 min | Documentary
In this documentary, veteran filmmaker Harry Moses exposes the controversy in the world of high priced artwork. He paints a vivid picture of how art is bought and sold in America.
Director: Harry Moses | Stars: Teri Horton, Tod M. Volpe, Ben Heller, Nick Carone
Votes: 1,292 | Gross: $0.01M
11. Painter (2020)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Thriller
A wealthy art collector's obsession with a young painter develops into a psychosexual relationship fueled by jealousy and delusion.
Director: Cory Wexler Grant | Stars: Betsy Randle, Eric Ladin, Anastasia Leddick, Spencer Irwin
Votes: 277
12. Woman in Chains (1968)
R | 106 min | Drama
Stanislas Hassler blazes the development of modern art in his gallery, packed with works of surprising shapes, colours and textures, and where exhibitions turn into media events. Gilbert ... See full summary »
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Laurent Terzieff, Elisabeth Wiener, Bernard Fresson, Dany Carrel
Votes: 1,732
13. Art Bastard (2016)
82 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
What is art and how does it relate to society? Is its value determined by its popularity or originality? Is the goal profit or expressing one's personal vision? These are some of the ... See full summary »
Director: Victor Kanefsky | Stars: Richard Armstrong, David Cenedella, Joan Cenedella, Liz Cenedella
Votes: 90 | Gross: $0.02M
14. Noise Matters (2013)
88 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A satire on the relationship between fame and integrity in the life of eccentric characters exploring the "art" of making noise using trash and everyday objects.
Director: Matias Masucci | Stars: Matias Masucci, Ugo Bianchi, Bret Roberts, Joey Capone
Votes: 205
15. Kusama: Infinity (2018)
Unrated | 76 min | Documentary
Artist Yayoi Kusama and experts discuss her life and work, from her modest beginnings in Japan to becoming an internationally renowned artist.
Director: Heather Lenz | Star: Yayoi Kusama
Votes: 1,215 | Gross: $0.36M
16. Manifesto (III) (2015)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
Cate Blanchett performs manifestos as a series of striking monologues.
Director: Julian Rosefeldt | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Erika Bauer, Ruby Bustamante, Carl Dietrich
Votes: 7,247 | Gross: $0.14M
17. The $50m Art Swindle (2019 TV Movie)
90 min | Documentary, Crime
Remarkable story of art dealer who swindled over $50 million from the art establishment before going on the run.
Director: Vanessa Engle | Star: Michel Cohen
Votes: 50
18. A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Approved | 66 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A dimwitted busboy at a beatnik cafe passes off a cat he accidentally killed and covered in plaster as a sculpture, prompting a demand for more art that compels him to commit murders.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone, Julian Burton
Votes: 7,906
19. Shadowman (2017)
81 min | Documentary, Biography
Richard Hambleton was a founder of the street art movement before succumbing to drugs and homelessness. Rediscovered 20 years later, he gets a second chance. But will he take it?
Director: Oren Jacoby | Stars: Richard Hambleton, Andrew Valmorbida, Mette Madsen, John Woodward
Votes: 262 | Gross: $0.01M
20. Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art (2020)
112 min | Documentary
Banksy, the world's most infamous street artist, whose political art, criminal stunts, and daring invasions outraged the establishment and created a revolutionary new movement while his identity remained shrouded in mystery.
Director: Elio Espana | Stars: Banksy, Felix Braun, Claire de Dobay Rifelj, Ben Eine
Votes: 982
21. Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait (2017)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary
A look at the personal life and public career of New York artist Julian Schnabel.
Director: Pappi Corsicato | Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Laurie Anderson, Hector Babenco, Jean Michel Basquiat
Votes: 292 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Basquiat (1996)
R | 107 min | Biography, Drama
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Forlani
Votes: 22,097 | Gross: $2.96M
23. Burden (IV) (2016)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Biography
A probing portrait of Chris Burden, an artist who took creative expression to the limits and risked his life in the name of art.
Directors: Richard Dewey, Timothy Marrinan | Stars: Chris Burden, Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Larry Bell
Votes: 338 | Gross: $0.02M
24. The Artist is Present (2010 Video)
7- channel video installation (color, no sound), first performed at the MoMA, New York, which explores the complex relationship between artist and audience, as the performer is pushing past perceived limits of the body and mind.
Director: Marina Abramovic | Star: Marina Abramovic
Votes: 100
25. Driven to Abstraction (2019)
TV-PG | 84 min | Documentary, Crime
Driven to Abstraction unravels a mutating tale of self-delusion, greed, and fraud-- the $80 million forgery scandal that rocked the art world and brought down Knoedler, New York City's ... See full summary »
Director: Daria Price | Stars: Andy Chen, Gregory Clarick, Patricia Cohen, Aaron Crowell
Votes: 40
26. Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (2020)
94 min | Documentary, Crime
Made You Look is an American crime documentary about the largest art fraud in American history set in the super rich, super obsessed and super fast art world of New York.
Director: Barry Avrich | Stars: Ann Freedman, M.H. Miller, Perry Amsellem, Patricia Cohen
Votes: 4,878
27. Big Eyes (I) (2014)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A drama about the awakening of painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter
Votes: 99,144 | Gross: $14.48M
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