Shortly after his initial
introduction to Banksy, Mr. Brainwash made the decision to transition from art
lover to artist as depicted in the film “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. Mr.
Brainwash soon graduated from a few hand drawn stickers to making giant sized
paste-ups, and his iconic pop graffiti art is now seen on the streets and art
galleries of New York and Los Angeles.
The film “Exit Through the Gift
Shop” as well as Mr. Brainwash and his relationship with the street artist
Banksy is shroud in great controversy and mystery. There has been debate over whether the
documentary is genuine or a mockumentary, although Banksy answers
"Yes" when asked if the film is real.
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| Mr. Brainwash - Tomato Spray |
Mr. Brainwash's uniformly subversive
style fuses historic pop imagery and contemporary cultural iconography to
create his own pop art - graffiti hybrid. The development of this style has
catapulted Brainwash to international stardom. Mr. Brainwash's first solo show
'Life is Beautiful' was held in Los Angeles in June 2008, showing over 100 artworks. In addition to Mr. Brainwash’s widely recognized iconic art
images,
Life is Beautiful featured larger
than life art installations which included a 20-foot robot made of old
televisions, and a life-size recreation of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and a
pyramid made from 20,000 books. Originally scheduled to open for only two
weeks, the art exhibit was extended for three months, attracting more than
30,000 visitors.
Mr. Brainwash's graffiti -styled art
has continued to garner recognition from art collectors and street art enthusiasts
alike. In
2009, Mr. Brainwash collaborated with
Madonna on her Greatest Hits album, creating the cover art for Celebration.
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| Mr. Brainwash - Love is the Answer |
In 2010, Mr. Brainwash opened his second art exhibition ICONS in New York City. The
show featured Mr. Brainwash’s paintings and silkscreens of world icons such as
Madonna, Charlie Chaplin, and Albert Einstein, as well as portraits of music
legends constructed of broken records and large-scale sculptural installations
such as a giant boom box and a NYC cab in a life-sized Matchbox packaging. The
sold-out art exhibition was extended until early May 2010. Not only were major
art collectors acquiring Mr. Brainwash's paintings and prints but also
prestigious auction houses. In the Fall of 2010 Mr. Brainwash made two significant auction
sales for his unique paintings. The smaller of the two pieces featured a
portraiture style depiction of model Kate Moss selling for $67,000. The larger piece
continued Brainwash's fascination with Albert Einstein and featured the
historic physicist in a front of a graffiti adorned wall holding a sign reading
“Love is the Answer”. The work sold for well above the pre-auction estimates
for $120,000.
Mr. Brainwash currently lives and
works in Los Angeles.
Note:
An
interesting note on Mr. Brainwash’s unique signature and authentication – Mr.
Brainwash has a series of additions to his signature to help further
authenticate his original artworks. On the back of every unique piece he stamps
his thumb print and adds a numbered code from a dollar bill. The bill is then
cut in two, one half is given to the owner of the piece and the other is kept
at Mr. Brainwash’s estate for future authentication. Any unique piece sold by
Denis Bloch Fine Art will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity as
well as the dollar bill.
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