A documentary by Banksy. Rated PG. Opens Friday, May 7, at the Ridge Theatre and the Cinemark Tinseltown

The contemporary art scene is such a hodgepodge of trends, raw talent, opportunism, and countless unknown factors that there’s no way to sum it up neatly, or even messily. But Exit Through the Gift Shop raises all the right questions in the form of a hugely entertaining documentary.

It’s also the first such effort for the English street artist known as Banksy. Probably about 35 years old and apparently raised in Bristol, the mystery-loving graffiti master developed an elaborate system of stencils and stick-ons in Britain and around the world and eventually graduated to installations and one-man shows that have made him an anonymous millionaire.

He’s a shit disturber with very deep pockets, which has caused observers to wonder if Banksy’s flicker isn’t some kind of supersavvy put-on. In fact, it makes little difference how much of the movie is verifiable, because illusion and the perception of coolness are such vital parts of the package.

Narrated by Rhys Ifans, with funny assists from the voice-disguised Banksy, Exit is ostensibly about the guy who shot much of the footage here: French expat Thierry Guetta, who opened a vintage-clothing store in Los Angeles and later got sidetracked by compulsively documenting the generally illegal actions of taggers with names like Swoon and Space Invader. He then assisted Barack Obama iconographer Shepard Fairey and Banksy himself. And this, we’re told, led to the fuzzy-faced Frenchman—now calling himself Mr. Brainwash—aggressively co-opting their work and their marketing techniques for a grotesque pop-art mashup that supposedly has collectors standing in line and has his betters scratching their heads.

Somewhere, Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp are quietly snickering at all this. And, I believe, they accept Visa.