Street Artist Mr. Brainwash

Street Artist Mr. Brainwash
About this video
Who is Mr. Brainwash? Fans and critics alike have been pondering that question for a few years. Though not quite as mysterious as the infamous Banksy, Mr. Brainwash (AKA Thierry Guetta) has nonetheless aroused plenty of speculation of his own! YH attempts to get to the bottom of the enigmatic street artist and venture into his paint-splattered world! Voilà! Hosted by Nikki Novak (@nikkinovak).
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Mr. Brainwash is speechless. Should we, should we set him free? You do say you're like a bird, right? So should we set the bird free? Do you like the band-aid to be peeled off slowly, or should I rip it off? Let's go. We're going to rip it off. Are you ready? Mr. Brainwash! How are you doing? Good to see you.
Good to see you too.
So, I know you've just been in London. Yes. You just had a an amazing show in London that just got extended. There were lineups like around the block for people to even get in to see it. And you timed it with the Olympics.
Yes. That, that, I mean, uh I did like the Olympic in a way. They showed me a a space was the sorting post office of London. And it's 200,000 square feet. And the person took me around and
Is that big enough for you? I don't know.
Yeah. I didn't use all of it. You know. Where all this wall that you see like kind of orange, it's things that I had to build. I had people to come and to build some all the wall before that I get there.
And where's the boombox?
It's right here. Boombox.
Oh, there it is. There it is. When you do a show, do you have like a favorite piece? Or are they sort of all like your babies?
I think the favorite piece of the show it's people for me.
Really?
Yeah. It's to have people joy and smiling and that's that's the piece and the piece. Hey! I'm from the depths. From the depths. There's no return. Return from the depths. To imagine something and come out and make it happen. That's what I am, you know, like sometime I I I I see things and I'm like, what what did I do? You know, because it takes a lot of my time, it takes my energy, it takes a lot of uh you know, sometime it makes me and a a danger in my life. But somewhere in the end it's the danger is mine.
So, I know like the whole thing with Banksy. You are like one of the only people that sort of knows what he's really like. I have a theory. I have three theories about who Banksy is. Are you ready?
Yes.
Prince Harry? Yes. Is Banksy Prince Harry?
Maybe.
What about, I'm thinking it could also be Elvis. Elvis isn't dead. No. Elvis is actually Banksy. What do you think about that?
That would be cool. Thank you very much.
Or, because he does everything else so amazingly, Jay-Z.
Jay-Z?
Jay-Z, why not? So which one was closest?
I guess all of them they're like all of them they make one. You you put them and a and a one, two, three like and you'll make it.
Do you have a New York City cab that we could take?
Yeah. We can make it happen. You know, there is nothing that is impossible.
So, let's see if you can make a New York City cab appear. Okay. One clap. One, two, three. Brainwash, how did you do that? We're in We're in a cab. Where should we go?
I don't know. Downtown please.
Downtown please cabbie. Woohoo! You're amazing. How did you make that happen?
You made it happen.
I did?
Yes. You just you like you like, you like uh so strong enough you can make things happen.
I do. I just will things to happen.
I do everything with passion and heart. And I do it all the way from my heart. So, it's always a joy to do it. And I don't calculate it. I just do it. Like when I did the movie, I didn't say to myself, oh, I'm going to make these big movies. I just film it because that's what I wanted to do. I'm going to tell you the truth now.
Tell the truth. This is Banksy. Can I say, I have a way with art. I know you've designed like cover art from Madonna. I know Michael Jackson bought some before people, before the you know, documentary, Michael Jackson was like one of the very first people. Any great behind the scenes stories?
He came to uh to a one duplex that I have uh and uh Alta Vista somewhere in West Hollywood. He was like sitting on a coke old case of Coke things with his glasses and things and he was with his driver. Uh nobody guards, nothing. And I had like painting in the garage. And I used to have a camera at that time. I filmed everything. So I used to film him. And he was okay with it. No, but he didn't even know, you know, some of them he was okay, some I would put the camera, yeah. Behind him. The driver like he's He sees and me I always want to do more. You know, I'm not uh uh you know, I do one shot, I want to do another shot. So I move the camera. In one moment the guy is like, is he filming? And I'm like, no. Yeah. No. I'm like he's like, can I see? And I'm like, fast forward the camera and going come here, come here, come here. Come here. Oh.
Do you get impressed by celebrities? Is that something that you get? Like, have you do you get star struck?
No, I don't. You know, me I'm just uh simple person. I mean people are people. I believe that everyone has a diamond inside themselves. Sometime it's it's there is some stuff on top of it and you don't know but if you shine it, you know, and believe in it, you know, it's gonna start brighting everywhere. This is my portrait. Self-portrait. Yeah, look at the hat. I guess wait, you don't like Barbra Streisand very much.
No, it's just sometimes I'm hungry and that's what I eat. Let's break something. Voila. Let's do this.
That felt awesome. I want to do that. Let's break guitar. No, yes. Are you serious? Like Jimi Hendrix. Rock and roll. Yeah. Man, here. So we're going to charge the TV because this one is like a $3,000 guitar. So, young Hollywood, young Hollywood, we'll send you a bill because I didn't tell her to do that. No way. Oops. I got a little carried away.
If you good things good happens to you. If you think good, everything will be good. You know, life, it's not forever. And we never know when it's gonna be off. And it's beautiful. Life is beautiful. Come here, come here, come here. Look at her, look at her how nice, look how nice she is. Huh?
Young Hollywood. I'm not that young, so it's not on me but here. I think that guy's gonna be mad that you just hit his car with your door.
Don't worry about it. It's only the police. It's only the police.
Oh, it's a cop car. We just hit a cop. We just hit a cop. Do you think that the policeman would be mad that we do that to his car? To his car?
Look, if we do This this is two police men. We do a lot of dangerous things.
Have you ever done anything that you said, oh no, I'm really in trouble now? He all of a sudden got quiet. The first time other than when the tape was on that you got speechless. Awesome.
Timestamps are approximate — click one to jump the player.
PEOPLE MENTIONED
- Mr. Brainwash
The subject of the interview
- Thierry Guetta
Mr. Brainwash's real name
- Nikki Novak
Host of the interview
- Banksy
Fellow enigmatic street artist whose identity is discussed
- Prince Harry
Hypothesized to be Banksy by the host
- Elvis
Hypothesized to be Banksy by the host
- Jay-Z
Hypothesized to be Banksy by the host
- Madonna
Mr. Brainwash designed her cover art
- Michael Jackson
Bought art from Mr. Brainwash and had a behind-the-scenes story
- Barbra Streisand
Her portrait was present in the studio
- Jimi Hendrix
Compared to Mr. Brainwash for smashing a guitar
FAQ
Who is Mr. Brainwash?+
What is Mr. Brainwash's connection to Banksy?+
Did Mr. Brainwash have an art show during the London Olympics?+
What celebrities has Mr. Brainwash worked with?+
What is Mr. Brainwash's favorite piece of art from his shows?+
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