What is Thierry Guetta's Net Worth?
Thierry Guetta is a French-born, Los Angeles-based street artist who has a net worth of $30 million.
Thierry Guetta, better known by his sobriquet Mr. Brainwash, was the subject of the 2010 documentary film "Exit Through the Gift Shop," which was directed by fellow street artist Banksy. He began as an amateur videographer before becoming a successful artist with his high-profile series of "Life is Beautiful" exhibitions. Guetta has also designed artwork for various musical artists and directed the film "Life Remote Control."
Early Life
Thierry Guetta was born on January 31, 1966 in Garges-lès-Gonesse, France.
Career Beginnings
According to the 2010 Banksy documentary film "Exit Through the Gift Shop," Guetta began his career running an upscale vintage clothing shop and making amateur videos of street artists in Los Angeles. Previously, he had discovered that his cousin was the famed street artist known as Invader, whom he subsequently decided to follow and document on his nocturnal sojourns. Allegedly, at the encouragement of Banksy, Guetta decided to become a street artist himself after spending years documenting the work of others.
Art Exhibitions
Using the sobriquet Mr. Brainwash, Guetta held his first solo art exhibition, "Life is Beautiful," in Hollywood in the summer of 2008. The show made the cover of LA Weekly, turning it into a smash hit with thousands of attendees. Among the most notable features of the exhibit were a 20-foot robot and a life-size recreation of Edward Hopper's iconic painting "Nighthawks." Guetta held his second show, called "Life is Beautiful: Icons," in New York City in early 2010. This show spanned 15,000-square-feet in an abandoned warehouse in the Meat Packing District, and featured a portrait of Jim Morrison made of broken vinyl records. The same year, Guetta held a show in Miami, Florida without any announcement. In 2011, he held another show in Miami, plus one in London's Opera Gallery. Shortly after the latter, Guetta made his Canadian debut at the Toronto International Film Festival with several large installations placed around the city, including his now-signature oversize can sculptures.
Guetta returned to London in 2012 to hold a show during the Summer Olympics in the city. His exhibit, held in the Old Sorting Office, included a six-story-tall Queen Elizabeth II, a 20-foot-tall gorilla, and a life-size taxi cab in a matchbox. In 2013, Guetta returned to Miami for an exhibition featuring large-scale oil paintings and sculptures, including a three-story-tall Mona Lisa sporting a Mohawk. The year after that, he created an enormous mural in New York City in honor of 9/11, located across from the World Trade Center site on the side of the Century 21 department store. Returning to the city in 2015, Guetta created another huge 9/11 memorial mural on the wall of Century 21.
Collaborations with Musical Artists
As his profile steadily grew, Guetta began contributing artwork to projects by various musical artists. In 2009, he was hired by Madonna to design the cover of her greatest hits compilation "Celebration"; he ended up creating 15 different covers for the album's myriad editions and singles. Guetta also designed a huge mural of Madonna for the singer's Hard Candy Fitness location in Toronto. Elsewhere, he designed artwork for Michael Jackson's posthumous release "Xscape," and for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' official promotion of their album "I'm with You." In 2013, Guetta created art installations for the Coachella Festival. Among his other contributions to the music world, he collaborated with Mercedes-Benz to put on the Evolution Tour, an eight-concert tour featuring such artists as Alabama Shakes and Mayer Hawthorne.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Fashion Collaborations
Guetta has also been involved in the world of fashion. In late 2014, he created an installation for the opening of Hublot's Bal Harbor Boutique in Miami. The next year, in the spring, he helped launch Sunglass Hut's Signature Artists Series with a limited edition run of Ray Ban sunglasses.
Commercial Auctions
In 2010, Guetta made his major auction debut at Phillips in London with a massive canvas depicting a Charlie Chaplin-esque character holding a paint can and roller. The pre-auction estimate of the piece was $50,000-$70,000. Guetta returned to Phillips later in the year with two works, a portrait of Kate Moss and a portrait of Albert Einstein. The pieces sold for around $67,000 and $120,000, respectively, close to three times their estimates.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Guetta achieved a new level of recognition in 2010 when he starred in the documentary film "Exit Through the Gift Shop," directed by the renowned street artist Banksy. The film depicts Guetta as he follows other major street artists around Los Angeles before rising to fame himself as the artist Mr. Brainwash. Largely narrated by Banksy, whose face and voice are obfuscated, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" has been speculated by many to be an elaborate hoax by the enigmatic Banksy. Many have wondered if Guetta is simply a front for Banksy, or even an alter-ego of Banksy himself. However, others have pointed to public records of Guetta's life and career as verification of his individuality and authenticity. In any case, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" was highly acclaimed by critics, and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Real Estate
Thierry Guetta owns at least $10 million worth of real estate in Los Angeles including a number of rental properties he has owned for over two decades.
In 1997 Guetta paid $460,000 for a home in LA's Highland Park neighborhood. In February 2016 he bought a second home in the area for $1.47 million.
In December 2016, Thierry Guetta paid just under $3 million for a home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.
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