ART IS NOT A CRIME (Chrome Blue, 2021

Thierry Guetta, creating under the pseudonym of Mr Brainwash, is a street artist and videographer most notable for his mischievous appropriation of copyrighted images, often sourced from popular culture and art history – Tomato Spray is one of his most recognised works, succinctly capturing his irreverent creativity with references to Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup cans, Banksy's Balloon Girl and Jackson Pollock’s dripping method. Mr Brainwash works primarily with stenciled images and layers of screenprint resulting in compositions that are emblematic of grafitti art, wrought with 20th century iconography. Asides from his street-art, Mr Brainwash has received merit for his work alongside various music artists; he most notably collaborated with Michael Jackson on the artwork for his Xscape album and has also created artwork for Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As a means of validating his own work as authentic, Mr Brainwash signs off with his thumb print, hand-signature, an assigned dollar bill number sequence and his ‘Life Is Beautiful’ mantra. (Artist website)