Mr. Brainwash

Mr. Brainwash is the name used by French-American self-proclaimed filmmaker and urban artist Thierry Guetta. Mr. Brainwash was born in Garges-lès-Gonesse, Paris, France, but relocated to Los Angeles with his father and several siblings when he was 15.

According to the Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), Guetta began as a proprietor of a clothing store and amateur videographer who was first introduced to street art by his cousin Invader, and who filmed street artists through the 2000s and “evolved” into an artist in his own right in a matter of weeks after an off-hand suggestion from Banksy.