Mr Brainwash Ali

Mr. Brainwash is a French street Pop artist and videographer known for his large-scale installations and prints of celebrities like Madonna, Kate Moss and Marilyn Monroe. His practice of subverting cultural iconography and appropriation borrows from Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Bansky.

Fellow street artist Alec Monopoly has said that he considers Mr. Brainwash a mentor. He is perhaps best known for his role in Banksy’s documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), which features Mr. Brainwash’s rise to success in the street art scene. Much like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, Mr. Brainwash's popularity in Pop art happened almost overnight after the premiere of the film, in which he remarks, “Banksy captured me becoming an artist. In the end, I became his biggest work of art.”

Born Thierry Guetta, Mr. Brainwash moved to Los Angeles when he was 15, where he attended high school before dropping out. The artist later ran a successful vintage clothing store in the city. His interest in street art was spurred by a visit to France in 1999, where he learned that his cousin was the famed graffiti artist Space Invader. Having developed a knack for filming, Mr. Brainwash started to record the nightly escapades of Invader and other street artists such as Shepard Fairey.

In 2013, Mr. Brainwash was included in the exhibition “Art Wars” at Saatchi Gallery in London. He has since developed an exceptional international reputation beyond hype-culture; his followers are captivated by his use of positive messages, an uplifting outlook and a retrospection of life through street and contemporary art alike, of which his global growing fan base can't get enough.

In the present day, Mr. Brainwash's international fan base of collectors has propelled his blue-chip artwork into the upper tier of desirability where he has joined the ranks of contemporary Pop art masters such as KAWS, Roy Lichtenstein and Jeff Koons.

Find a collection of original Mr. Brainwash art on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Arton Contemporary)

Bring energy and an array of welcome colors and textures into your space by decorating with figurative fine-art prints and works on paper.

Figurative art stands in contrast to abstract art, which is more expressive than representational. The oldest-known work of figurative art is a figurative painting — specifically, a rock painting of an animal made over 40,000 years ago in Borneo. This remnant of a remote past has long faded, but its depiction of a cattle-like creature in elegant ocher markings endures.

Since then, figurative art has evolved significantly as it continues to represent the world, including a breadth of works on paper, including printmaking. This includes woodcuts, which are a type of relief print with perennial popularity among collectors. The artist carves into a block and applies ink to the raised surface, which is then pressed onto paper. There are also planographic prints, which use metal plates, stones or other flat surfaces as their base. The artist will often draw on the surface with grease crayon and then apply ink to those markings. Lithographs are a common version of planographic prints.

Figurative art printmaking was especially popular during the height of the Pop art movement, and this kind of work can be seen in artist Andy Warhol’s extensive use of photographic silkscreen printing. Everyday objects, logos and scenes were given a unique twist, whether in the style of a comic strip or in the use of neon colors.

Explore an impressive collection of figurative art prints for sale on 1stDibs and read about how to arrange your wall art.