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Who is Mr. Brainwash?  If you were looking for clues at his recent opening in New York City’s Meatpacking District, you were out of luck.

The art/fashion crossover crowd descended on 415 W 13th Street, an enormous multi-level space packed with jumbo canvases and installations, including a life-size horse made from tire treads. In the middle of the upper level was a pink-splattered can of paint so big you could hold a party inside it. People milled around, guzzling Red Bull and champagne, confused & bemused in equal measure. Taking photos and video was encouraged — this is one man who knows how to promote himself.

Combining pop art sensibilities with graffiti culture, Mr. Brainwash’s relentless riffing on celebrity culture is at once familiar and colorful. He recasts Angelina Jolie as Marilyn Monroe, smothers a 7′ can of spray-paint with Louis Vuitton’s famous monogram, and recreates Jimi Hendrix on a canvas covered in crushed records. At the back of the room, almost hidden in the dark, was a classic NYC cab sealed inside life-sized Matchbox packaging.

If Andy Warhol and Banksy were able to mate — and had been willing to do so — Mr. Brainwash is the likely result.

How did this all come about? Mr. Brainwash is the alter-ego of French immigrant Thierry Guetta, who now lives in Los Angeles. His preoccupation with street art and graffiti led him to years filming the people behind the work, and eventually he became an artist too. His documentary about the process, Exit Through The Gift Shop, secretly premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2010. It wasn’t listed in the program, but quickly became the hottest ticket at the festival.

Featuring famed street artists like Banksy, Ron English, Borf and Shepard Fairey, the viewer is able to watch the famous fiends at work. One of the most memorable scenes is of Banksy installing an inflatable replica of a Guantanamo torture victim right next to a roller coaster in The Happiest Place On Earth — Disneyland.

Being a trusted accomplice of Banksy is no small feat — and accomplice is perhaps a better word than friend, given that Banksy described Guetta as “maybe just someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera.”

Only time will tell whether Mr. Brainwash will become an art scene staple like Banksy, but with his sense of humor and motifs of “LOVE IS THE ANSWER” and “LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL”, he certainly has a fan in me.

Mr Brainwash’s show, ICONS, is open until 31st of March at 415 W. 13th Street.

3.00 (6 votes)

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