Life Is Beautiful

Hello friends!

So, this is the promised post about Mr. Brainwash (MBW) via my previous post about the movie out in theaters right now "Exit Through The Gift Shop." This movie really uncovers the mystery behind this man:
Thierry Guetta, the French videographer, filmed street artists doing their thing for years and years until he decided to do an art show of his own (coining himself as Mr. Brainwash). He got endorsements from these street artists (Banksy, Shepherd Fairey, Space Invader (his cousin)), hired people to create his ideas, and the show was widely advertised. I don't think any of this art is his own, just ideas of his. Actually not that different from Andy Warhol, who also hired people to mass-produce his ideas, although knew how to do a screen print.
Regardless, MBW became more well-known in a matter of weeks than any street artist out there. If anything, he's more of a crazy businessman than an artist.
The movie really exposes him in a realistic yet more negative light. He even admitted that it's amazing how much people will pay for a piece of art that's basically paint splotches on another piece of art. He put his savings (and family) on the line to make this art show, but it ended up making him famous. Regardless of the controversy about "what is art?," I feel that this man, as crazy as he is, had something going for him since he was able to get so many people excited about art and sell out the first night. I went that night with some friends, and stood in line for 2 hours, only to be turned away when we got about 10ft from the front of the line because they were closing for the night and it was too crowded.
I went back a couple days later and these were the pictures I took from that show in June 2008. Whether he was a "fraud" or not, I'm glad I went to the show and enjoyed a free display of interesting pop art. I was working on Guitar Hero at the time...

And had recently met DMC, from Run DMC. So I appreciated this piece of art:

This was a collage of actual records. It was pretty neat. You can click on the picture to see a larger version:

I think this was my favorite part of the show. The 2-story-tall robot made of TV's:

Weird:

The art show was being put together in the warehouse the DAY OF, because MBW broke his leg a few weeks before! Instead of delaying the show, he said whatever was ready would be shown. Some pieces didn't get finished, and remained in a taped-off section of the giant warehouse:

Ah, remember the hype of the last election?

A life-size recreation of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" painting... incredible!

Yep, just a cage completely stuffed with stuffed animals:

I'd love to hear from anyone reading this blog... What do you think about this man? Did he steal fame without talent? What is considered art? Based off of my pictures, do you think you'd enjoy this exhibit?
Thanks for reading! Ta Ta for now...