While everyone’s speculating about the details of Banksy’s new documentary, “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” and its connection to universally despised street artist Thierry Guetta aka Mr. Brainwash, Shepard Fairey openly discussed details of the soon to be premiered Sundance film in a 2008 video, while sitting on a panel at Bonhams auction house. So what did we learn? Quite a bit, but overall, Mr. Brainwash is the human, performance art version of this Banksy painting and that’s mostly Banksy’s doing.
1. Mr. Brainwash is cousins with world renowned, French street artist Space Invader, which explains how he got access to the Shepard Fairey and Banksy in the first place.
2. Mr. Brainwash is rich and has lots of assistants. This is important because he owns a lot of property and was more than happy to allow street artists to legally paint there.
3. Shepard really doesn’t like Mr. Brainwash’s work and thinks its too derivative and not done by the artist himself, which madethis endorsement all the more puzzling, until you realize that he is in on the prank.
4. Shepard introduced Mr. Brainwash to Banksy in 2005 and MBW “fell in love with Banksy.”
5. Mr. Brainwash set out to make a film about street art and shot lots of footage of Banksy, Shepard, and others.
6. Banksy flipped the script, literally, and convinced Mr. Brainwash to let him direct the film and make it about MBW, allowing Banksy to take control of the footage, protect his identity, and turn their roles 180 degrees.
7. Banksy set the agenda and was instrumental in helping Mr. Brainwash execute an over the top gallery exhibit in Los Angeles, that had some wondering whether it was a hoax.
8. Banksy has a “sick sense of humor” and, in Shepard’s words, the “coup de grâce of the film is Terry transitioning from being just a voyeur and admirer of street art to being a street artist.”
So there you have it. Video footage of Shepard’s discussion below (7:01 mark is when he gets into it).
Transcribed below from 7:01 mark.
He’s cousins with Space Invader, he lives here. He owns a lot of property around Hollywood. And he got hip to my work through Space Invader, went out with me and starting documenting me, and then in 2005 I introduced him to Banksy and he really fell in love with Banksy, and he wanted to make a film about me, a film about street art in general with several artists including Banksy in it.
And then it just turned into his obsession with the art form switched over to him becoming an artist, but the thing about him is, is that he is motivated, but he also has a lot of money and a lot of assistants and so a lot of that work doesn’t even have his own hand in it. And I have mixed feelings about all of that.
But His show was a very manufactured thing, in that Banksy, in order to try to get Terry’s film that he never completed to come out said ‘why I don’t make this film about you and I’ll direct it and then can I get the footage of me back, so I can put that into the film.’
So the coup de grâce of the film is Terry transitioning from being just a voyeur and admirer of street art to being a street artist which I think is part of Banksy’s sick sense of humor. It’s a very complex situation, but I personally think he kind of rushed things to suit Banksy’s agenda and a lot of his work was derivative of Banky’s work, Warhol’s, my work, Damien Hirst, But anyway I don’t know it’s weird….
Mr Brainwash sucks big balls.
if there is one thing in life that i have learned, is that to get anywhere in life, it comes down to who you know or who you meet.
i just wish i was friends with Shep and Banksy. Mr. Brainwash, meh. he seems too spazzy. but then again, sometimes you need a spazzy friend in your life.
lew – your statement "to get anywhere in life, it comes down to who you know or who you meet." is the motto of the bitter and unmotivated. It is a complete fallacy. If you really believe this you will never amount to anything.
Even in MBW's case – I'm sure he was driven to seek out artists, make a movie etc. which lead to other opportunities for him to make crappy art.
lew – A good portion of nyc "street artists" are like that. They seem to all hang out in a tight circle and jerk each other off with shows and parties celebrating their 5 block radius ups they have in SoHo and, of course, where they party/live in Brooklyn. Hype and knowing the right people can ultimately help out more than having talent in MANY cases.
MBW is a joke.
brainwash shit was always a joke, it always seemed like a stupid hollywood icon pop art scheme and it was..word on the street in L.A. was MBWs Dad owned a lot of property in L.A. Hollywood area and thats how he got up.. otherwise you dont see his shit anywhere else was also suspect of fact that same team that put together Banksy show in LA was same team that did MBW's show almost immediately after leaving everyone to ask who the fuck is Brainwash, where did he come from and that he must be a fake… so no real surpirses here.. unless you see all your "street art" on the internet.
hey everyone. it seems mr brainwash has made all of you really upset. so i suppose, just like in all endeavors, you have to have haters. and you guys are doing a great job of filling that role. funny how once you have an opinion of someone you'll say whatever you "hear" to backup you hate for someone or something. the truth is, if you know anything about mr brainwash, you would know that he was making art before he was filming. and selling to major people. the guy has talent. he's smart. and he has a point of view. banksy, let's be honest, is amazing. but mbw and banksy are separate and should be seen that way, with their own messages, points of view, and style. long live good art and how angry it makes people!
"his work was derivative of Banky’s work, Warhol’s, my work, Damien Hirst,"
hahahah OBey Giant thinks he is like Warhol or Hirst. The difference is, they have good taste and Obey giant is a joke on a wallet at Hot Topic… and that's fine, but his artwork is terrible and anyone with half a brain could see that. hahah that jerk is calling someone else derivative hahah If you people really like Banksy and Obey Giant and this other dipshit i think you need to go back to the basics and start over bc ur lost
Such a bunch of little bitches!!! What have any of you created lately accept hate? BW YOU KICK ASS!!!
You/e all been "brainwashed". And, the story is not over yet.
Bansky is playing a very deep game of chess on the public.
How many steps ahead of you/us is he? Is he even playing?
Is this even a game?
It's very funny to read these comments (if they too are real). Come on folks, I'm not the brightest light bulb out there but with a wee bit of research even I can find out that Mr Brainwash is a complete fabrication, a fantastic Banksy joke on us. The whole character was created from the film. If you Google Mr Brainwash, or the other created name, you will find only references in 2010. Nothing goes back before January.
Have fun with it and enjoy the ride. Hey, anyone watch the "Incident at Loch Ness"?
Banksy, if you read these sites, I really liked the film. It presents a mirror on the culture that creates heroes from sheep. We are truly a trusting and gullible group aren't we?
I wasnt sure if anyone but me understood this was a complete and total hoax.(if you TOO are real.)
The movie was very entertaining. I would be inclined to believe that Banksy planned some of this but he wanted to see where it would go. It's not out of his character to come up with new and unthinkable ways to push the limits. Aren't we all curious when we find a new piece by him. He is truly an artist and he continues to find ways to captivate. What should we expect from him the future? Look out!
take note that MBW did with art (in the film) what he did with his clothing store at the start. Take something we already had, add a bit and then inflate the price. It says a lot about the art and consumer world in general
terry IS banksy. the joke is on you.
it was really fun reading this article. i really enjoyed myself. those two people are hilarious.