About

Mr. Brainwash, the artistic name of Thierry Guetta, is a French-born contemporary artist based in Los Angeles. Known for his energetic fusion of street art and pop culture, his work combines bold colors, graffiti-inspired gestures and familiar cultural imagery, often reworking icons from art, music and popular culture.

Born in 1966 in Garges-lès-Gonesse, France, Guetta moved to Los Angeles with his family as a teenager. His path toward art initially developed through film. An obsessive amateur videographer, he began documenting street artists after encountering his cousin, the artist Invader, in Paris. This led him to follow and film figures including Shepard Fairey and Banksy, immersing himself in the emerging international street art scene.

Guetta eventually moved from documenting artists to creating work himself under the name Mr. Brainwash. His rapid transformation became a central part of Banksy’s 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, which brought international attention to both his personality and his artistic practice. His first major exhibition, Life Is Beautiful, opened in Los Angeles in 2008 and marked the beginning of his career as an artist.

Mr. Brainwash’s visual language draws freely from Pop Art, graffiti, advertising and mass media. Through painting, screen printing, collage, stencils and mixed media, he appropriates and transforms recognizable images, frequently juxtaposing cultural icons with slogans and symbols of optimism, love and popular culture. In 2009, he designed the cover artwork for Madonna’s album Celebration, followed by numerous exhibitions and public projects internationally.

Mr. Brainwash continues to live and work in Los Angeles. His practice occupies the intersection of street art, contemporary art and popular culture, reflecting the circulation and constant reinterpretation of images in contemporary visual culture.