A decade ago, the Banksy-directed, Academy Award-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop premiered and catapulted Mr. Brainwash to global fame. Even before that, L.A.-based Thierry Guetta was already generating buzz, thanks to a massive solo show staged inside a former CBS studio in 2008 and, a year later, his cover for Madonnaâs 2009 greatest hits collection, Celebration. It was the doc, though, that established the Mr. Brainwash persona as an unlikely and incredibly enthusiastic art star.
âWhat Exit Through the Gift Shop did was it put me worldwide,â says Guetta while standing on La Brea Avenue in front of his latest wall. He says that just a day earlier he met people who had only recently seen the ten-year-old film.
Guetta designed two covers for Los Angelesâ 2020 Best of L.A. issue and he just finished pasting one of them (right) on the side of a building facing the buzz of traffic at 1255 S. La Brea Avenue. Itâs a detail-heavy amalgamation of Mr. Brainwash iconography and slogans mixed with words and images reflecting Los Angeles in the middle of 2020. The artistâs recognizable self portrait appears in a bottom corner, next to a 101 freeway entrance sign. Alfred Hitchcockâs clapboard reads âlife is beautiful,â one of Guettaâs signatures. Elsewhere, youâll find Kobe and Gianna Bryant and the phrase âBlack lives matterâ written down Hollywood Boulevard. He incorporates mottos like ânever give upâ and âfollow your heartââ the latter written so that it could also be read as âfollow your artââinto the piece.
Guetta says thereâs more he wishes he could have added to the pieceâmore things to say, more parts of the city to incorporate. Heâs lived in Los Angeles for 30 years now and says that the city is his heart.
âWe need positivity,â Guetta says of the images in the mural. âWeâre not just Los Angeles, we are a family today. We are all together. We all have problems, but weâre all going to resolve it together. Weâre going to make it better together. Los Angeles, itâs a family.â
Earlier this year, Guetta had announced plans to open a pop-up museum in Beverly Hills, at the Richard Meier-designed space that was previously Paley Center for Media, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put those plans on hold, explaining that âright now is not the right time to do it.â But, he says, heâs been staying positive during the pandemic: âSomething is going to be good again. Something is not going to be just good again, but better than ever.â
And, Guetta says, heâs been staying busy during the pandemic. âI was creative more than ever because, after a while, youâre churn-churn-churning and youâre starting to see things, images and youâre starting to do things with anything that is in your hand,â he says.
He repeats credos during our interviewââYou really have to follow your heart, because love is the answerââbut he also has a bigger message to share with people.
âEveryone can make it happen. Everyone is beautiful and can show light to everyone,â says Guetta. âIt happened to me. Iâm no better than anybody else. Iâm not more artistic than anybody else. I just donât give up. I just work and make it happen. So, donât give up. Youâre beautiful and you can do something different in this world, just believe it because you have the talent to do it.â
The mural is located at 1255 S. La Brea Avenue in Mid-Wilshire. Take a photo with it and tag it #MyBestOfLA to be reshared.
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