The artwork Smile is a mixed media unique piece of Mr. Brainwash. Smile – Keep it Reel. Like many of Mr. Brainwash’s works, this motif can be traced back to graphic artist Norman Rockwell. The boy with the camera pressing the shutter button is, like many of Norman Rockwell’s illustrations, a tribute to youth in the United States. The simple pleasures of life and the flare of first love are the focus of Norman Rockwell’s “Saturday Evening Post” cover. The background is littered with stencil motifs that pay homage to Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and Banksy. By 1926, Rockwell had been working for “The Saturday Evening Post” for ten years. A self-proclaimed specialist in painting child-centered scenes, he elevated the status of his youthful subjects by depicting them as complex individuals with dignity despite their economic status. In this work, Rockwell recalls the pleasure of spending vacations on rural farms on Long Island and in upstate New York, a respite from the hustle and bustle of life in New York City, where he was born and spent his youth.

In this beautiful unique work “Smile” in mixed media on paper, the famous street artist depicts a child with a camera. This motif is a character created by Mr. Brainwash, representing himself in his childhood and his innate passion for photography. Next to him is the lettering Smile, one of the artist’s slogans. The background is just an explosion of shapes, colors and references to the great artists of the past such as Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. The exclamation Smile – Please smile, which photographers like to shout out, is also seen here as a call to a positive attitude towards life. Smile is also the title of a jazz standard made popular by Nat King Cole. The song was originally composed by Charlie Chaplin in 1936 for the classic film Modern Times. In the film, the melody is heard in the final scene of the film, when Chaplin’s tramp and his companion walk down a street with optimism towards a tough future. The lyrics were added only in 1954 by the British duo John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons. With these new lyrics, Chaplin’s song became a chart success in 1954 through Nat King Cole’s interpretation, becoming a jazz standard. Here, too, the circle closes to the artist Mr. Brainwash who, in addition to role models from the art scene, also always had film icons like Charlie Chaplin as a role model.

International Shooting Star – Mr. Brainwash

Hardly any other street art artist has experienced such a rapid rise as the Frenchman Thierry Guetta aka Mr. Brainwash, born in Garges-lès-Gonesse in 1966. His path to becoming the most successful artist of recent years is closely linked to the name Banksy and his Oscar-winning film Exit Through the Gift Shop: In this documentary Banksy encourages the then still unknown Guetta to become active as an artist himself under the pseudonym Mr. Brainwash. Several Solo Shows and Mr. Brainwash exhibitions from LA to New York, Seoul and last but not least Nuremberg and Kitzbuehel/Austria followed. All Mr. Brainwash Shows sold out within a few days.

Mr. Brainwash (미스터 브레인워시), in the tradition of pop art, combines well-known motifs, celebrities, cartoon characters and icons with his typical positive and uplifting messages such as “Love is the Answer”, “Life is Beautiful” or “Follow Your Dreams”. The main motif is sprayed on as a stencil with a stencil and acrylic paint whereas the background as a collage or with mixed media is worked out differently in each case. Old snippets from comic books, vintage brochures and other stencils allow the viewer to see new details again and again. The French-born street artist now also regularly produces huge murals from LA to New York that dominate the cityscape.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: NOT JUST AN EXHIBITION. Life is Beautiful is not just the name of Mr. Brainwash’s first exhibition in Los Angeles in 2008; the phrase soon became his slogan. Thierry Guetta is a person who is always positive, smiling and cheerful. His personal goal is to transmit joy and positive messages of love through his art and his works. This phrase is so important for him that he always writes it behind all his unique works.

Like many Urban Art and Street Art artists, Mr. Brainwash uses well-known motifs like celebrities or comic icons and combines them with his very own signature messages of positivity: “Love is the Answer”, “Life is Beautiful” or “Follow Your Dreams”. The main motif is sprayed as a stencil with acrylic paint, whereas the background is composed differently as a collage or with mixed media. Old snippets from comic books, vintage brochures and other stencils let the viewer discover new details again and again. Mr. Brainwash lives and works in Los Angeles today.