The museum opens on December 18

In Edward Hopper's painting "Nighthawk," Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh eat with Superman. This is one of many paintings at the Mr. Brainwash Art Museum, which opens on December 18 at the former Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills (465 N. Beverly Drive). The contemporary artist and cultural figure has been working on the museum for at least two years. Since appearing in the Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, many famous people have bought his art. But people enter his place of business through it. In the art world, Thierry Guetta is known as "Mr. Brainwash." In February 2020, he first talked about plans for a museum. During a virtual tour today, he told, "It's been a long time." "I've been trapped." "It's not a bad thing to be stuck," Guetta said next. "You start to work and do different things, pushing yourself to a new level." His art got bigger. "I'm shocked even by myself."

The building housing the museum will be demolished next year

Before it is torn down next year, it took Guetta seven months, starting in 2019, to persuade the building's owners to let him rent the three-story building designed by Richard Meier, who won the Pritzker Prize. "It's an artistic thing," Guetta begged. In the end, they said yes. A month later, the pandemic began to cause delays. "Now or never," he said today, "that's how it is." Guetta has been putting paintings and sculptures from his busy studio, where he makes a lot of work, on hold for thirteen years. The Mr. Brainwash Art Museum has pieces from 1990 to the present, and more pieces will be added in the future. The museum's website says it's open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but Guetta said they'll be open some nights until midnight.

A detailed experience

As of now, when people walk into the glass building's curved front, they see terraces that go up all three stories, walls that are deep red, and a simple way to learn about the artist: a framed mask of the Mona Lisa with one paragraph of wall text, which may be the only one in the museum. It's an experience that's full of details but hard to learn about. On the first floor, there is also a copy of Van Gogh's painting "Bedroom in Arles." The pillows in this copy have a painterly texture that people can feel. Even the more traditional parts of the museum, which are full of copies of paintings with Mr. Brainwash touches like cartoon characters and anti-capitalist puns, have armchairs to sit in and enjoy the view. The next room is a Star Wars room with full-size Storm Troopers, a lightbox with a Sith in the middle, and X-Wings that glow under blacklights.

Through the flat glass wall along the stairwell, you can see three sculptures of luxury cars hanging from the outside of the museum. The orange 1973 Porsche 911 that Mr. Brainwash made into a matchbook car has been bought by the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A. On the second floor, there are metal sculptures of the origami he liked as a child, a room that looks like a New York City subway, and a hallway with distorted mirrors and bright lights that looks like it belongs in a funhouse. Photography is not allowed anywhere except on the open roof of the third floor, which has full sets of Abbey Road, a tribute to Banksy, and a mural of Mr. Brainwash with a camera, showing his roots. He said, "This show is a little more about me." "Thierry by Mr. Brainwash," he said. The pool and movie room will be built later.

It will be possible to discover works by other artists in a nearby warehouse

The Mr. Brainwash museum will only show works by its namesake, but in a warehouse next door, he will show works by other artists. The museum will show never-before-seen footage of Banksy in a theater where Lisa and Homer Simpson are often seen. The museum had a soft opening last week with a small toast, but this weekend is the first public day. Guetta thought that the VIP party would happen much later, probably after another event with a lot of stars, like the Grammys. "It will be a living museum," he said.

After the building is torn down, the museum will go on the road, perhaps to New York City and Miami. This California edition has large portraits of famous people from the area, like Tupac Shakur and Steve Jobs. He said that every piece in the museum was made by the artist. Guetta said, "This is the first show of the new start of my next 10 years." "This museum is where it all starts."