Exit Through the Gift Shop Page #8

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It's like gold, you know?

'Cause you spray,

and, "How much is it?"

"$18,000.

$12,000."

NARRATOR:

With his big day now upon him,

Mr. Brainwash

still had plenty to do,

because it was only now,

just eight hours

before the doors opened,

that Thierry's paintings

finally arrived,

framed and ready to hang,

almost 200 pieces

in a riot of themes and styles.

I have never seen someone

with so much goddamn art

in one art show

in my entire life.

I haven't seen group shows

with that much artwork.

Whatever elves Thierry

had making that stuff

did a good job.

NARRATOR:
Outside,

the first eager art fans

were already starting to arrive.

We're here to see

Mr. Brainwash, bro.

He's holed in L.A.

right now, bro.

He's up on every corner.

Come on, guys!

Let's make the show go on!

F***!

NARRATOR:
But inside,

the pressure

was starting to show.

Okay, okay,

there is one thing,

one thing, one thing.

We're gonna have a meeting.

One thing.

Starting with...

starting now, this second,

I'm running the show.

You're not giving order

to anybody right now.

I'm running the show.

You listen to me.

Okay?

Anybody's listening to me now.

Okay?

Okay?

So now you follow me.

You're coming with me.

This oil painting,

do you know where is the two...

the two-tone metal spray

over there?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

You take off the two.

You hang down.

The right.

Right.

- Right. This wall.

- This wall?

This wall.

Okay, you show me,

and I'll tell you a pile...

a pile good

or a pile not good.

You too.

This one, good.

This one, I'm not sure.

This one, good.

NARRATOR:
By mid-afternoon,

a crowd of almost 2,000 people

had amassed

for what was now

widely tipped to be

the hottest art event

of the year.

How'd you guys find out

about this event?

L.A. Weekly.

Do you guys think

you still have a shot

at getting a print?

Yes.

I'm expecting to see a mixture

of street art and pop art

together.

Really interesting stuff.

Very modern.

No one's really done it

the way he's done it.

You know, it's one

of those kind of things, man.

I'm not quite sure

what I'm in for,

but I'm excited about it.

NARRATOR:
But Thierry

was still finding distractions

from the task in hand.

Who are you,

and what do you do?

I'm Mr. Brainwash.

I was a filmmaker.

I mean, I am still a filmmaker,

and...

and I start filming,

I felt,

like, because I love art.

Sometimes in life,

you have to go... to go...

- I'm so sorry.

- That's okay.

Wait.

No, you've got to come

right now.

Or things will turn bad.

You have to make some decisions.

The whole big room is empty.

Okay, can they unroll

all the canvas?

I've done it.

Now it's those other big walls

opposite...

Okay, I need you

to just to take oil painting

and put them in the small room.

Yes, but I've done it.

Put them in any order

in the room.

That's done.

It's the other big space.

Just put them all like that.

And I'll come and decide.

- In the big space?

- Put them all out.

And get the canvases rolled out

flat, and I'll come in a bit.

Okay.

It's okay.

I can do another three minutes.

It's okay.

NARRATOR:
Eventually,

with only three hours left

to get everything ready,

the crew started

putting the paintings

up on the walls themselves.

I brought in three

of my staff members

that have been here

since 3:
30 or4:00 working,

hanging stuff,

moving stuff, carrying stuff,

you know, working just as hard

as the guys Thierry brought in,

realizing that, frankly,

he's just kind of retarded.

Almost certain

this is probably my last

MBW show I'll be working.

NARRATOR:

Finally, the doors opened

to a public eager

to feast their eyes

on the grand debut

of Mr. Brainwash.

What do you think

of the "American Gothic"?

It's gothic.

It's a triumph.

It will go down in history.

I'm glad my friends

turned me on to this.

There should be more stuff

like this in Los Angeles.

They say that art is dead,

but, sweetie,

it's all around us.

Great.

Bravo.

It looks like

it's sort of a one-trick pony,

but I think if you look at it

particularly

in context

as an entire body of work,

I think it's exploring

some interesting notions

around celebrity.

I never met the cat

till tonight,

but this fool's

down for this, dog.

NARRATOR:
With over4,000 people

flowing through the venue,

Thierry's entre

into the art world

was nothing less

than a sensation.

Amazing.

Thank you so much.

Fantastic.

- Right on.

- Yes.

NARRATOR:
L.A.'s art fans

watched, spellbound,

as a major new star

was born before their very eyes.

So desperate were they

not to miss out

on this cultural phenomenon,

those left outside

felt compelled

to break through the gates.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

It's beautiful.

Keep on doing it.

Most artists spend years

perfecting their craft,

finding their style,

and Thierry seemed to miss out

on all those bits.

I mean, there's no one

quite like Thierry, really,

even if his art does look quite

a lot like everyone else's.

I see this particular one

reoccurring

in so many different mediums.

Why does that one reoccur

so many times?

Because I think it's

part of the popular culture.

Andy Warhol passed away,

and I'm here.

Can you guys form a straight

line to the right, please?

NARRATOR:

But the ultimate validation

was measured

in dollars and cents.

By the end of his opening week,

Thierry would sell nearly

$1 million worth of art.

Mr. Brainwash had arrived.

One, two, three.

- Whoo-hoo.

- Yeah.

It was beyond my expectation,

like they say.

I would never have thought

that it would be so many people.

And it's not

that it was so many people;

they were so happy.

They were so pleased

with what they see.

They were so... you know?

They were so touched.

Like, they caught me as Banksy.

Like, they said that I'm

as good as that, you know?

So I love it, you know?

Somewhere it's great,

but from the people,

I think I got accepted,

you know?

It comes to a point

that I got accepted.

NARRATOR:
Originally booked

to run for just five days,

"Life is Beautiful" stayed open

for a further two months,

and as word about MBW spread,

his pieces appeared in galleries

and shows around the world,

from Miami and New York

to London, Paris,

and even Beijing.

He's kind of the rightful heir

to Andy Warhol, in a way.

Andy Warhol made a statement

by repeating famous icons

until they became meaningless,

but he was extremely iconic

in the way that he did it.

But then Thierry really

made them meaningless.

How do I feel about being

partially responsible

for creating Mr. Brainwash?

I feel like, um...

I had the best intentions.

I think even when

you have the best intentions,

sometimes things can go awry.

To put a huge body of work

together

and sort of try to,

you know, come out

as if he is a fully formed

artist ready for the world stage

I think was a little premature.

I feel good.

I feel good as an artist

to have a reputation now.

You know, an artist is not a guy

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