Mr. Brainwash
(French, b. 1966)
“Art cannot be criticized because every mistake is a new creation.”
— Mr. Brainwash
Mr. Brainwash, pseudonym for Thierry Guetta, is a major pop artist and videographer. His entertaining, vibrant, and meaningful artwork explores the intersection of graffiti art and pop art to make social commentary, and has become widely appreciated in the art world.
Guetta was born in Paris, France, but moved to Los Angeles at age 15 with his family after the death of his mother. He attended Fairfax High School for roughly a year before he dropped out and began getting involved in and organizing events around Hollywood. He opened vintage clothing stores in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York before he started doing street art. He was an amateur videographer and always filming life.
In 1999, a trip to France sparked the graffiti interest in Mr. Brainwash. Inspired when he realized the secret identity of his cousin as street artist Space Invader, he would follow and film Invader, Fairey, and other street artists creating their art. He became good friends with famous street artist, Banksy, in L.A. due to a chance meeting and Banksy’s need for a local source to help find good spots for some new pieces. They pulled off a Guantanamo Bay tribute at Disneyland, filmed by Banksy. After taking thousands of hours of video of street artists, Guetta edited them into a film, Life Remote Control, which as Banksy put it “was an hour and a half of unwatchable nightmare trailers”. After watching the film, Banksy told Guetta that maybe he should try his hand at street art instead, and he did.
Mr. Brainwash came into existence almost overnight and began doing street art, with which he has been very successful. In 2009, Banksy and Mr. Brainwash also collaborated on Banksy’s show, Barely Legal, which celebrities and collectors attended. Afterward, the pair also worked on the Academy Award nominated documentary, Exit through the Gift Shop, which debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Brainwash’s first show, Life is Beautiful, sold over a million dollars’ worth of art within a week of the show ending. Mr. Brainwash participates artistically in numerous fashion and music collaborations. He designed album covers for Madonna in 2009 and helped launch Ray Ban’s limited edition Artist Series in 2015. He is also involved with art projects that aim to raise public awareness. He is the creator of several murals, such as the giant mural commemorating the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, right by the World Trade Center in New York City. Today, Mr. Brainwash works and resides in Los Angeles. His artistic vision continues to have an impact across the world.
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