MR. BRAINWASH RECONTEXTUALIZES IMAGES FROM POPULAR CULTURE AND ART HISTORY BY INCORPORATING ICONIGRAPHY AND COLORFUL TEXT INTO WRY GRAFFITI-INSPIRED SCREEN PRINTS AND SCULPTURES.
MR. BRAINWASH, BORN THIERRY GUETTA 1966 IN FRANCE, MOVED TO LOS ANGELES WHEN HE WAS 15, WHERE HE ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL BEFORE DROPPING OUT. THE ARTIST WENT ON TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL VINTAGE CLOTHING STORE IN THE CITY. HIS INTEREST IN STREET ART WAS SPURRED BY A TRIP TO FRANCE IN 1999, WHERE HE LEARNED THAT HIS COUSIN WAS THE FAMED GRAFFITI ARTIST SPACE INVADER. HAVING DEVELOPED A KNACK FOR FILMING, MR. BRAINWASH STARTED TO RECORD THE NIGHTLY ESCAPADES OF INVADER AND OTHER STREET ARTISTS. HE BEGAN WORKING AS A STREET ARTIST AND VIDEOGRAPHER AS WAS SOON KNOWN FOR HIS LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS AND PRINTS. HIS PRACTICE OF SUBVERTING CULTURAL ICONOGRAPHY AND APPROPRIATION BORROWS FROM ANDY WARHOL, KEITH HARING, AND BANSKY, AND COMBINES THE WORLDS OF STREET AND POP ART. HIS WORK OFTEN FEATURES CELEBRITIES SUCH AS MADONNA, KATE MOSS, AND MARILYN MONROE. MR. BRAINWASH IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS ROLE IN THE BANKSY’S DOCUMENTARY 'EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP’ (2010), WHICH FEATURES MR. BRAINWASH’S RISE TO SUCCESS IN THE ART SCENE. MR. BRAINWASH HAS DEVELOPED AN EXCEPTIONAL INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION FOR POSITIVE MESSAGES, UPLIFTING OUTLOOKS, AND NOSTALGIA FUELED RETROSPECTION. IN 2013, HE WAS INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION “ART WARS'' AT SAATCHI GALLERY IN LONDON. INSPIRED BY THE BEAUTY OF LIFE, MR. BRAINWASH CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN CALIFORNIA.