I recently saw the Banksy film, "Exit Through The Gift Shop." A thought-provoking film, which left me wondering if it were a documentary, satire, or a clever prank. Given that Banksy is involved, I have to think the answer is "D," all of the above. The anti-hero of the film, a weird little Frenchman called Thierry Guerra, is also a subject of speculation. Did he really think that following artists around for 10 years gave him license to become an artist himself? Did he actually create any of the art in his monumentally vainglorious debut show? Does Thierry Guerra (aka Mr Brainwash, or MBW) even exist?
I've done a bit of intersnooping, and have come to the conclusion that, while Thierry Guerra is a real person, and really did film ten years of street artists, "Mr Brainwash" is a prank conceived by Banksy. In this article from 2008, there is a rather long comment from a guy named Juan Rodriguez, who was on site during the installation of MBW's big LA debut. He mentions rarely seeing MBW creating any art, and that very few crew members spent more than one day there during the entire install. However, there was one person there every day, who painted, screen-printed, and tagged constantly. His name was Roman Lefeburte. In Banksy's Wikipedia entry, there is speculation that his real name is Robert, Robden, Robin Gunningham or Robin Banks. Robert/Robden/Robin or Roman? Coincidence? I think not.
I've done a bit of intersnooping, and have come to the conclusion that, while Thierry Guerra is a real person, and really did film ten years of street artists, "Mr Brainwash" is a prank conceived by Banksy. In this article from 2008, there is a rather long comment from a guy named Juan Rodriguez, who was on site during the installation of MBW's big LA debut. He mentions rarely seeing MBW creating any art, and that very few crew members spent more than one day there during the entire install. However, there was one person there every day, who painted, screen-printed, and tagged constantly. His name was Roman Lefeburte. In Banksy's Wikipedia entry, there is speculation that his real name is Robert, Robden, Robin Gunningham or Robin Banks. Robert/Robden/Robin or Roman? Coincidence? I think not.
