art in review: MR.BRAINWASH

Video of the show-Part 1




Part 2






A critical review
MR. BRAINWASH—"Life is Beautiful" 6-22-08

*NOTE: I'm not a 'professional' art critic. I'm an art follower, just like everybody else that goes to shows. The following is just PERSONAL OPINION. What gives me the right to shove my opinions down your throats? The 1st amendment. I welcome you to challenge me with any opinions that you may have. (Maybe I'm just missing something)

First off the show should really have been called 'Life is a Rip-Off'. That would have been more appropriate since he blatantly ripped-off numerous artists, and it was quite humorous as well since the show was really funny to us.

So we went to the opening nite on June 18th, but apparently the article in the LA WEEKLY had done its job and there was a huge line outside the show to get in. Since we couldn't be bothered to wait, we came back the following Sunday to see the show and spend some quality time understanding everything that is Mr. Brainwash.

Upon entering we were handed free ice water from the rent-a-cops which was great since it was like 95 degrees outside. In the front patio garden area were these oversize sculptures and a huge pile of books. The first sculpture was what looked like the side of a Rubik's cube. And then on the far side was a huge 10 foot tall lunch bag. At first they seemed like really cool sculptures. Then I realized that I had seen similar sculptures by artist Claes Oldenburg, from back in the 60s, when Pop art first broke. Don't get me wrong, these sculptures were cool, but it wasn't something that struck me as being original. The oversize six pack of coors beer was cool though, but that's just because it was hot and I really could have used a cold beer.

The pivotal piece and trademark item in this show had to be the endless paintings and larger than life-size sculptures of Warhols' Tomato Soup Cans that the artist had added a spray can tip on top and claimed the images as his own. At first, and with most of Mr. Brainwashs' art, it seemed really cool. Soo POP, and so retro, and soo friggin' cool!! But what I realized was that EVERYTHING that I thought was cool and hip from this show was because it was ORIGINALLY COOL AND HIP WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT IN THE 60s. All of the art that everyone was seeing and thinking was really cool was because they RECOGNIZE IT from being a Warhol or being previously done. That was the 'cool' part about it. Because we already recognize it as being cool. It seems that MBW understood this concept and figured that if he uses images that are "Cool" and "Established", then his art will automatically be "Cool" and established as well. I liked this thinking and I was amused at how he dared to group himself with the heavies of the POP movement by using all of Warhols imagery with his own, as if to say that he's up there with the king of Pop Art himself. Smart. After all, its not who you are, but who people THINK you are. You can quote me on that.

The ideas behind the art were creative, however to me personally the execution was un-original and basically a blatant rip-off of already established art that people already think is cool. He just added a few embellishments and claimed it as his own original. Maybe it's because I hail the 60s POP movement with Warhol and all the artists that were involved in it, as being an untouchable genre of art. Nobody is cooler than Warhol. But when you bite that Warhol coolness as being your own, that's simply asking for judgement and stepping into the bounds of being a fraud/poseur with no original ideas to bring forth.

An argument against this critical review could be if indeed that was the purpose of this show, to capitalize on the established art world and to cash in on what has already been set in stone as being cool and POP. It would be a very Warholian concept and would definitely grant a pat on the back to Mr. Brainwash for his ingenious plan. It would work great and MBW could possibly laugh his way to the bank, until all the photographers that get wind of their photographs being used for MBW art sue him for plagiarism.

My only hesitation is that of credibility. I personally understand this concept. Quite well, actually. But my concern is to all the art lovers that see this as something 'NEW' and 'ORIGINAL' since they have no clue that it was already done and put on the map 45 years ago. I think that the concept of 'Pirating' Art and laughing at the establishment is great! But I also think that 99% of the fans of MBW, mostly hipster 20 something year-olds, have no clue as to the actual purpose and point of 'Pirated' art and completely miss the point of this show, and were just there because it was written up in the Weekly and came across as being 'Graf Art' and some embodiment of the now so ever-popular term 'Street' art. But I guess that doesn't matter since they're not exactly the type to fork over $10,000 for a MBW painting when they're still mooching off their parents for allowance money to spend at The Echo.

Inside the expansive once TV studio on Sunset across from Dennys restaurant, a series of paintings hang in the main corridor leading to the main Gallery space. These paintings are clearly Warhols' "Marilyn" paintings with faces of contemporary icons superimposed over her face. Sort of like the music called 'Mash-Ups' where they take 2 cool songs and put them together and the result is an annoying mix of 2 really good songs that now sound like shit. These paintings were pretty cool actually, but that was just because I recognized the Warhol part.

Once inside the studio, there was several small rooms with what appeared to be found paintings from thrift shoppes that MBW had embellished in some way by adding something to the painting or altering it in a very small way, and then claiming it as his original. Once again, concept cool but execution unimpressive. Finding a painting or even painting an original to make it seem old then adding a little something to it to make it funny, isn't my idea of groundbreaking originality. But its definitely something for the kids. They love that stuff. They love anything that they recognize, plus add in a little street cred(markers or spray paint) and its suddenly the icon to a new generation of TV Zombies.

As if the mock Warhol paintings weren't enough to try to get credibility, there was even an exact copy of the Marcel Duchamp 'FOUNTAIN'(a plain Urinal to the commonfolk) from his 1917 French Dada/Surreal movement of 'Readymades' under plexiglass. Only this one was covered in 'street tags' of local 'street artists' to appeal to the street kids at the show and maybe impress a few art critics as being 'street credible'.

Highlights for me were the robotic sculptures in the show. First the hanging Robot-esque sculpture with spaghetti like cords and cables coming out of it located in the center area just next to a small room with paintings. And then in the back, the towering TV Robot made up of several televisions stacked on top of each other to form this huge monolithic figure. I saw this exact sculpture before at another art show years ago, but it was much smaller and this new large size was quite impressive, I must say. I guess the old adage 'Everythings been done before' is true, only, it can be usually topped in sheer size.

I did like the collages of musicians made from broken record pieces. I thought these works were the most original and inspiring pieces in the entire show. They were something that I had never seen before and part of me wished that I had come up with that. (that's how I pretty much judge if I like the work and think its original or not, if I would have done it or if I'm awestruck by its sheer originality).

Maybe I'll rip it off and become a big art star since its already been done and now has been established! Is that how artists become successful these days?

Last Words: I'll wait for a timemachine and go back and see the original Warhols myself. Art auteurs seeking originality stay home, this ones strictly for the kids.

Mr. Brainwash can try to 'Brainwash' us into thinking this is original, but some of us know that you can NEVER bite what is truly cool. Just leave it be and try something original.

UPDATE: a week ago(7-27-08) I was in a Barnes and Noble at the Grove(gross haven for tourists with incontinence) and somehow came across a book on the UK street artist BANKSY. After flipping thru picture after picture of documented street art, it was apparent that MBW blatently and shamelessly ripped off Banksy(whom he used to soot documentary footage of in the past) in every single way possible. What was most alarming was the EXACT same copies of famous or classical paintings with added embellishments to make them humorous.

C'Mon Brainwash...can you really think of NOTHING original?!!