Mr. Brainwash: Secret Genius?

Before I get flamed for my subject line here, I want to say that I don't think the guy was bright enough to pull this off intentionally.

But think about this: Street art is kind of an anarchical art form, a statement against the establishment. These artists are out under cover of darkness "Vandalizing" public and private property for the sake of self-expression. NOT that it isn't a valid art form. It just speaks to the rebellious nature of the medium. Banksy himself said it was in a "Legal grey area."

Then along comes Thierry Geutta. He approaches it with the mind of an entrepreneur. He invests money, maximizes production, and utilizes his contacts freaking brilliantly. He promotes himself to be the next big thing in an art world that's constantly scrambling to find the next big thing. He comes at it like a business and absolutely CRUSHES it.

And then what happens? These more credible artists (and they ARE more credible artists) are criticizing this guy for not being genuine. For not establishing himself as a legitimate artist. Basically... not doing things the way THEY did things.

So what did he do? He made these guys look like huge hypocrits! Somehow, this strange Frenchman managed to flip these guys' anti-establishment values back around on them. He made them look like the establishment.

But again, is he clever enough to have done this deliberately? I don't know, but it definitely happened.