Only three months after the announcement the Paley Center for Media would be departing the Richard Meier-designed home in Beverly Hills it has occupied since 1996, a new tenant has already been confirmed. Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash), a French street artist who gained notoriety following the release of the 2010 mockumentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, has signed a lease to temporarily transform the 26,500-square-foot space into a museum of his own after scoping out an exhibition space for over a year. “The building, which almost fell into my lap, is my Cinderella slipper,” Guetta told the Art Newspaper. “It fits perfectly.”
Since moving to Los Angeles, Guetta has already taken over several properties throughout the city to produce and store his artwork. The latest lease, however, reflects an initiative to exhibit that work to a public audience. The artist has also stated that the building will also be used for presenting group shows, some of which may be themed with loans from local institutions in conjunction with pieces from his own collection. The building’s facilities lend themselves to other museum functions as well, including a 150-seat theater for which the artist is planning public and private talks and screenings. “I want to show different sides of myself,” he added. “All I have kept inside for so many years. Imagine a pressure cooker, about to explode. That’s me!”
The former Museum of Television & Radio was originally purchased in 2018 for $80 million by the luxury brand LVMH, which plans to eventually demolish the three-story structure and build a hotel on the site. Guetta will receive the keys in March, and is planning to present his first exhibition in the space this Spring. Pairing the glassy building’s location on a heavily trafficked corner with the artist’s notoriety and connection to Banksy, one can expect that the exhibition space will receive a lot of attention during its run.
