Mr. Brainwash Bombs L.A.

For all of Guetta’s moxie, there are questions about the validity of his art — which is most often compared to Banksy — and the way he’s inserting himself into the scene. What seems to temper these complaints is the fact that he hasn’t alienated the artists you’d think he’d be in competition with. Though he does confound them.

On Guetta’s “Life Is Beautiful” Web site, Shepard Fairey is quoted as saying, “Mr. Brainwash is an enigma. I want to hug him one second and smack him the next. He is awesome, infuriating, almost impossible to define. But if an artist is defined by relentless, obsessive passion, then MBW is definitely an artist.”

Photo by Gregory Bojorquez

Art by Mr. Brainwash

Photo by Gregory Bojorquez

Photo by Gregory Bojorquez

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• Thierry Guetta
• Banksy
• Gregory Bojorquez
• Street Art
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

“If you’re asking me to compare this show with Banksy’s,” Salin tells me, “all I can say is that the MBW show is a completely independent art show put on by the artist himself without any outside help from a gallery, museum or sponsorship of any kind [Banksy’s shows are also independent]. And though MBW was more than likely influenced by Banksy’s guerrilla-style hit-and-run shows that pop up in a random, sometimes-abandoned space — making you feel, ‘Where did this come from and why doesn’t it happen more often?’ then next thing you know, it’s gone — you can’t really compare the two. It’s like comparing apples and dirty socks. Oh, yeah, and there’s no elephant to paint in the MBW show.”

Two days after my first visit,I return to Columbia Square and am greeted by a miraculous sight: a 30-foot robot constructed from vintage televisions that Guetta has collected for more than a year. All of the sets are on — the ones that don’t work are unceremoniously dropped from the scaffolding — and are displaying different test patterns. Awesome. Most of the books have made their way into wall cubbies built to invite visitors to read or write on the pages with supplied markers. More of the infamous MBW stencils have made it onto the walls, and newly finished oil paintings are being carried away for framing. Guetta has replaced his old-school crutches with a set of fancy scooter wheels, which allow him more mobility. His amped-up energy is indicative of the progress being made. The team has probably only slept a couple of hours in the past week, but there is no tension, only excitement. A buzz is building tonight as the legendary D.C. graf artist Cool Disco Dan stops by on his way through town to throw a few tags while one of the police cars Guetta has purchased is delivered to the entrance lawn.

Art by Mr. Brainwash

(Click to enlarge)

Photo by Gregory Bojorquez

(Click to enlarge)

Photo by Gregory Bojorquez

(Click to enlarge)

A couple of photographers show up and start shooting. The BBC calls. Seven-foot sea creatures built from film canisters peer out from around formerly blank corners, dripping with the cables cut from the walls. There are a Hopperesque diner counter and window from Nighthawks, waiting to be twisted into a Mr. Brainwash version of the famous painting.

“I was going to put skeletons in there dressed as the original characters, but that’s too negative,” Guetta explains. “I’m a positive guy! Life is beautiful. So my idea is changing again. Maybe I’ll get actors to dress up as Warhol and stand in there, or maybe I’ll break the window and make it an abandoned building — like modern times!”

There is already a tricked-out alley in the space behind the “diner” with a shopping cart and garbage. Cool Disco Dan throws up a tag and Guetta pauses for a portrait. We cut through the room to the original entrance of the studios on Sunset. It had been blocked off, used by CBS employees as a smoking area.

“I’m going to restore this and open the doors for the first time in years,” Guetta states excitedly. “This was the first studio in Hollywood [orginally Nestor Studios]. There’s a plaque over there that says 1911. I’m going to have projections showing on all the surfaces and a jazz band playing as people come in.”

It’s easy to see that the ideas won’t stop flowing just because the show opens officially. I’m beginning to believe that Guetta might just pull off his spectacle as the Seventh Letter’s REVOK arrives to scout out his space in the stairwell to paint. And, as Shepard Fairey, paraphrasing Malcolm McLaren, says, if he doesn’t, “a glorious failure is better than an underwhelming success.”

“Life Is Beautiful,” MBW solo show, Columbia Square, 6121 Sunset Blvd., Hlywd., www.artshow2008.com. Opening reception, with Shepard Fairey as DJ, Wed., June 18, 7-11 p.m. Exhibit Thurs.-Sat., June 19-21, 1-9 p.m.; Sun., June 22, 1-5 p.m.