| Mr. Brainwash | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thierry Guetta |
| Born | Paris, France |
| Nationality | European |
| Field | Photoshopping Printmaker Street art Social commentary |
| Movement | Pop art |
Mr. Brainwash ("MBW") is a pseudonym for Thierry Guetta. According to the Banksy directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop,[1] Guetta, who lives in Los Angeles, California, began as a proprietor of a clothing store and videographer who evolved into a street artist and gallery artist after being influenced by the street artists he documented through video over the years.[1] According to the film, Guetta was first introduced to street art by his cousin, the street artist, Invader.[1]
The artwork attributed to Guetta strongly emulates the styles and artistic concepts of well-known street artists including Banksy and Shepard Fairey. Like Banksy, Guetta employs famous artistic and historic images, many of which are copyrighted, and amends the originals in slight or significant ways. Unlike Banksy, who is shown in the film creating his own work, Guetta states in the film that his work largely consists of "scanning and photoshopping," acts which are carried out by hired assistants. Guetta further admits that most of the actual artistic process is carried out by hired graphic designers to whom he describes his ideas.
Guetta's first show Life is Beautiful opened in Los Angeles, California, June 18, 2008.[2] In 2009, Guetta created the cover art for Madonna's Celebration album.[3] On February 14, 2010, his second show ICONS opened in New York City.[4]
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On October 6th 2011 MBW opened his latest solo exhibition at Opera Gallery in London. The night before the opening of the show the street outside the gallery was sprayed with paint by artist RSH as a statement about the false nature of Mr Brainwash's art work.[5]
On February 14, 2010 Mr. Brainwash opened his second show, this time in New York City. The show, ICONS, covered 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of an abandoned warehouse in the Meat Packing District to create a gallery. According to Anthony Haden-Guest, writing in the blog The Daily Beast, a Mr. Brainwash portrait of Jim Morrison made of broken vinyl records appearing in the show was sold for $100,000. Massive cans were created for the show, ranging in size from 4 ft (1.2 m) to 12 ft (3.7 m) and are now embodied as prints in a series.[6]
Mr Brainwash made his major auction debut on May 14, 2010 in the Phillips de Pury & Company Contemporary Art Sale: Part II. The piece, a massive canvas, was given a pre-auction estimate of $50,000 - 70,000. The piece featured a Charlie Chaplin character with paint can and roller in hand. The background of the work was adorned with the artist's Madonna and Heart image, set in an urban/street environment.[7]
The London Fall 2010, Phillips de Pury & Company Contemporary Art Sale marked the artist's second presence in auction, this time represented by two unique works. The two pieces ranging in size, were described as spray and metallic paint, acrylic and paper collage on canvas.[8] The smaller of the two pieces measures 106.7 x 106.7 cm (42 x 42 inches) and featured a portraiture style depiction of model Kate Moss amongst heavy brush strokes and splatters of red, pink, and white paint all amongst a gold background. The larger piece, measuring 162.6 x 121.9 cm (64 x 48 inches), continued the artist's fascination with Albert Einstein and featured the historic physicist in a front of a graffiti adorned wall. The works sold for well above the pre-auction estimates, fetching prices nearly 3 times higher than what was speculated in the estimates. The final prices for the two canvases were roughly $67,000 and $120,000.[9]
In early June 2011, cryptic artwork of a robot and the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo with the date 8/30/11 began to appear in various spots around Los Angeles, California. At the time the band's management denied that these works were in any way connected with the band; however on July 14, 2011, TMZ reported that the artwork was confirmed to be an official promotion for the Chili Peppers upcoming album, I'm with You, which was released on August 30, 2011. The man behind the images is Mr Brainwash, who also confirmed that he has several further projects lined up with the band.[10]
Guetta has been sued by Glen E. Friedman over Guetta's use of his photo of rap group Run DMC.[11]
An episode of the Morgan Spurlock-produced documentary series A Day in the Life follows Mr. Brainwash for a day. He is shown preparing for a large Los Angeles show. In the episode he says that he's been doing all of his work with a team of assistants since his first big show in 2010.
Since the release of the film Exit Through The Gift Shop, there has been much speculation that the film and story of Mr. Brainwash are a hoax concocted by Banksy and Shepard Fairey themselves. When Guetta is shown "working," he is only seen splattering paint using aerosol cans to haphazardly color images and clumsily attempting to paste up a poster. Other aspects of the Mr. Brainwash character seem deliberately comical, such as his being pushed in a wheelbarrow after supposedly breaking his foot.
The Times of London noted that "The blogs buzzed with rumours: that Mr Brainwash is nothing but a front for Banksy; even that he is Banksy."[12] Fast Company concludes "The whole thing, it's clear now, was an intricate prank being pulled on all of us by Banksy, who has never publicly revealed his identity, with Fairey as his accomplice. ... [His work] looks like Banksy trying not to look like Banksy..."[13]
Some suggest that Fairey and Banksy have been artificially inflating up the sales of Mr. Brainwash's work. According to Rebecca Cannon, Mr. Brainwash's work hasn't sold as well on independent forums. "With both shows held outside of commercial galleries, no professional dealers have had their reputation on the line in making fake claims of high sales. However, if Guetta is a hoax, there also exists the possibility that these artworks are actually produced by Banksy himself, in a style deliberately intended to suggest inferior artistic skill.[14]
As the movie opened in North America, in April 2010, The Boston Globe movie reviewer Ty Burr found it to be quite entertaining as a farce and awarded it four stars. He dismissed the notion of the film being a "put on" saying "I’m not buying it; for one thing, this story’s too good, too weirdly rich, to be made up. For another, the movie’s gently amused scorn lands on everyone."[15][16]
The artshow "Life Is Beautiful" depicted in the movie did occur,[17] which implies that if this is a hoax the character of Thierry Guetta has existed since at least June 2008. A trailer for his movie, Life Remote Control, has been on Youtube since 2006, as well.
An LA Times investigation found "[the] details of Guetta's unlikely biography are broadly supported by a review of public records, which trace his life in Los Angeles from his arrival as a teenager in the early 1980s. They are also consistent with the accounts of friends, former business associates and employees over those years."[18] Friends the Times interviewed confirmed the film's story that Guetta was constantly filming and several notarized documents prove that he hired someone to assist with the construction of his film LIFE REMOTE CONTROL.
However, it also adds that "Of course, it is impossible to prove whether his latest incarnation, Mr. Brainwash, is sincere. The film suggests that Guetta's artistic alter ego is largely a creation of Banksy, a notion Guetta doesn't refute." Guetta tells the paper: "In the end, I became [Banksy's] biggest work of art."