Mr Brainwash – Life is Beautiful is the first Exibition of Thierry Guetta (MBW) but is also the Positive Message written often in his works.
Thierry Guetta, street and pop artist known under the moniker of Mr Brainwash, is considered today one of the greatest exponents of contemporary art.
The artist’s slogan, the one he wants to convey in all his artwork, is enclosed in the phrase “Life is beautiful“.
Positive, smiling and cheerful, the artist wants bring joy and positive love messages through his artworks.
His first exhibition in 2008 titled “Life is beautiful“, many his artworks have this phrase written behind and all his images are a continuous hymn that the artist addresses to his fans to find happiness and joy in small things. Life is beautiful, always, even when it seems the opposite. Just learn to live the present and appreciate every moment that life gives us.
Life is Beautiful: the First Exhibition by Mr Brainwash
The artist’s concept of life is the phrase that Mr Brainwash wanted for his first exhibition ever mounted. In a 15000 square-foot complex on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Boulevard Mr Brainwash featured over three haundred paintings, sculptures and prints, alongside a sculpture made from 100.000 shoes and a life-side recreation of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.
To organize his first exhibition Mr Brainwash used his life savings and mortgaged his house.
It was June 16, 2008 when the exibition was inaugurated and it was immediately an extraordinary success, both for the critics and the public.
The enigmatic french artist showed into this solo exhibition artworks with writings like “Love is the Answer“, “Follow your Dreams” and “Life is beautiful“. Every painting became a love and happiness message.
The artwork by Thierry Guetta, alias Mr Brainwash, conquered the public.
His original paintings with Albert Einstein, Mickey Mouse and Charlie Chaplin were an extraordinary success and the artist’s effort was amply rewarded. In his first solo show Mr Brainwash sold over one million dollars.
From this moment Thierry Guetta fame continues to grow and he becomes one of the most popular street art artists.
Today everyone, from young people to collectors, is looking for his artworks. With spray can and stencil Mr Brainwash makes paintings colorful that speak of love and hope.
Collectors often decide to invest in his paintings and furnish the walls of their home with the artworks by Mr Brainwash. Young people instead love his paints for colours and for happiness messages that contain.
Artworks subjects in the exhibition “Life is beautiful”
Who are the subjects that Mr Brainwash used to communicate his happiness message? In the paints of the artist there are the Gorilla, who writes “Follow your dreams” with a spray can, and the scientist Albert Einstein, that shows a sign with the inscription “Love is the answer“.
Another source of inspiration for Mr Brainwash message is the couple Mickey Mouse and Minnie. In his paints they held each other in an embrace of love. Charlie Chaplin is depicted with a large heart too.
In Mr Brainwash artwork there are a lot of references to Keith Haring and Andy Warhol.
In the unique paintings of Mr Brainwash we find in the background featuring Campbell’s soup and the portrait of Marilyn Monroe, so characteristic in Warhol’s paintings, and the Stylized Men by Keith Haring.
Life is beautiful by Mr Brainwash: the dream continues
If the first solo exhibition “Life is beautiful” was the beginning of a dream for the artist, the success achieved made him one of the most important street artist in the world.
In 2009 Mr Brainwash collaborated with the most important singers. He worked with Michael Jackson, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Madonna. For the woman singer the artist realised the cover of her album “Celebration“.
In 2010 the street artist had a new rise to fame with the Banksy‘s film “Exit Through the Gift Shop“. The documentary film made with Bansky is presented at the Sundance Film Festival. The success was enormous and it was nominated for the Oscar.
Over the years the slogan “Life is beautiful” has also taken shapes in Mr Brainwash‘s tabletop sculpture. and public murals. The artist composed the phrase into a variety of color. There are sculpture with the written “Life is beautiful” in red, in black, in white, green, blue and yellow.
Today Mr Brainwash is one most quoted street artist in the art market, and his works are very desired by the most art galleries and art collectors in the world. The prices of his Mr Brainwash artworks reached record quotations and his original unique work quotations are always growing.
Meaning of Mr Brainwash’s slogan “Life is beautiful”
Why this slogan is so important for MBW? His first exhibition titled “Life is beautiful“, many artworks have as signed this written behind and the most famous sculptures of the artist reproduce this phrase. His first italian exhibition resumed that slogan again and turned it into “Milan is beautiful“.
In the slogan “Life is beautiful” there is all the positivity of Mr Brainwash, there is his desire to transmit joy for the present. He paints the happiness of small moments. This is one of the features that differentiate Mr Brainwash from many other big street art artist.
Andy Warhol and Keith Haring try to bring the attention of the public and of the institutions to facts and problems that plague society through a complaint that comes fron their artworks. Indifference, racism and social plagues are brought to the attention of the masses with representations that highlight the passive attitude, while in Mr Brainwash’s paintings we don’t find trace of these complaints.
The stylized Men of Keith Haring have their hands on the eyes, on the ears and on the mouth, to indicate that they don’t see, don’t hear and don’t speak of the problems that afflict the world. The characters of Mr Brainwash have in their hands signs that praise to happiness and love.
For the artist, who has a positive view of life, it is always beautiful even when everything seems to say that it isn’t so. With his artworks Mr Brainwash wants to convey a message of happiness and hope, which becomes even stronger thanks to the presence of bright colors.