Life is Beautiful

In 2008, Mr. Brainwash mounted his first exhibition, “Life is Beautiful,” in a 15,000 square-foot complex on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Boulevard. The show was a street art extravaganza, featuring over 300 of his paintings, sculptures, and prints, along with a life-size recreation of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks painting and a sculpture made from 100,000 shoes. “Life is Beautiful” turned Mr. Brainwash into an international street art phenomenon—an unexpected rise to fame captured in the Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010). Since, Mr. Brainwash has incorporated the phrase “Life is Beautiful” into a variety of his artworks, from tabletop sculptures to public murals.