Striking art – but whose work is it?

TIME is running out to see one of the hottest art shows of the year in Spain; one that will have art lovers strongly divided in their opinions. Los Angeles-based artist Thierry Guetta – aka Mr Brainwash – is currently exhibiting a collection of his work at Barcelona’s Galeria 3 Puntos, and his street-art style has critics divided as to just how talented the Paris-born, self-proclaimed filmmaker and street artist is.
In fact, there are strong rumours that the work of Guetta is actually the work of the world-famous Banksy, and the Mr Brainwash persona is an elaborate hoax dreamt up by the elusive and mischievous British street artist. The protagonist of the Oscar-nominated 2010 documentary film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop,’ Mr Brainwash shot to fame by copying the styles of other street artists he saw around him, including Banksy. The movie chronicled his rise through the ranks of the underground scene to the eventual staging of a massive art exhibition in LA. Dismissed by many as a copycat, but hailed by others as a genius, the work of Mr Brainwash undoubtedly gets the art world talking wherever his attention-grabbing exhibitions take him.
The Mr Brainwash exhibition will run until December 31 in Barcelona and is the perfect opportunity to see some of the world’s most famous street-art pieces, as immortalised on film. If it is all a hoax, then perhaps the works on show at Galeria 3 Puntos are a chance to see pieces by Banksy.
Either way, it promises to be a striking show.