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Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American contemporary artist. He is a well known graffiti artist, and a pioneer of the
Mission School The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California. History and characteristics This movement is generally considered to have ...
art movement. McGee is known by his
moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
s: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin.


Life and education

Barry McGee was born in 1966 in San Francisco, California. He is of Chinese and Irish descent. His father worked at an auto body repair shop. McGee graduated from El Camino High School in
South San Francisco South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 cens ...
, California. He attended the
San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...
, where he graduated in 1991 with a concentration in painting and printmaking. McGee was married to the artist
Margaret Kilgallen Margaret Leisha Kilgallen (October 28, 1967 – June 26, 2001) was a San Francisco Bay Area artist who combined graffiti art, painting, and installation art. Though a contemporary artist, her work showed a strong influence from folk art. She was ...
in 1999, who later died of breast cancer in 2001. They have a daughter named Asha. After Kilgallen's death, McGee married artist Clare Rojas in 2005.


Work

"Acclaimed for his work in the street as a graffiti artist and for his painted installations in galleries, museums and art festivals around the world, Barry McGee crafts a visual language that makes itself understood. It is public, addressing social concerns of urban life, and very private, elaborating a unique personal style that focuses on humanity, one painstakingly detailed, fine brush-painted image at a time."


Career

Barry McGee has exhibited, both solo and group, in galleries internationally. McGee was a central figure in the
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
art scene in San Francisco from the late 1980s and into the 1990s. As Twist, he became well known nationally by his stylized black and white pictographic flathead screw graffiti 'throw ups'. Later he was part of the
Mission School The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California. History and characteristics This movement is generally considered to have ...
art movement based in the aesthetics of the
Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...
of San Francisco. His work is founded on a pessimistic view of the urban experience, which he describes as, "urban ills, over-stimulations, frustrations, addictions & trying to maintain a level head under the constant bombardment of advertising". He was also an artist in residence at
inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...
McClymonds High School McClymonds High School is a public high school in the West Oakland neighborhood of Oakland, California, United States. In addition to being the third oldest high school in Oakland, it is the only comprehensive high school in West Oakland, opera ...
in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
, in the early '90s. Although his artistic origins lie in New York subway graffiti he has been included as a member of the
street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graf ...
movement. McGee's installations consist of simple bold paintings which are influenced by Islamic patterns on
tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ...
s, vernacular
sign painting Sign painting is the craft of painting lettered signs on buildings, billboards or signboards, for promoting, announcing, or identifying products, services and events. Sign painting artisans are signwriters. History Signwriters often learned th ...
, or use
caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
s of the destitute. These paintings are clustered together in combination with photographs of other graffiti writers. Older work included layering of shapes, and buff marks, backgrounds of drips painted directly on the gallery wall. He has painted stylized portraits on empty bottles of
liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or h ...
, flattened spray cans, and wrecked vehicles for art shows. He has collaborated frequently with Amaze, allowing him to paint the exterior and interior of the galleries exhibiting McGee's work. They have also utilized realistic moving mechanical human figures that appear to be tagging gallery walls. The market value of his work rose considerably after 2001 as a result of his being included in the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
and other major exhibitions. As a result, much of his San Francisco
street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graf ...
has been scavenged or stolen."The Mission school"
by Glen Helfand, ''
San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...
'', October 28, 2002.


Controversies

In September 1999, a 64-foot-long, 8-foot-high mural made up of 300 pieces, made by Barry McGee and financially sponsored by the
Luggage Store Gallery The Luggage Store Gallery, also known as 509 Cultural Center, is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary arts organization founded in 1987, and has two venues located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The organization has spon ...
and the Creative Work Fund, was stolen off a vacant commercial building in the
South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city's museum ...
neighborhood of San Francisco. It was never recovered. In 2004, as part of an exhibit at San Francisco's City Hall, McGee spray-painted "Smash the State" on the walls of Supervisor
Matt Gonzalez Matthew Edward Gonzalez (born June 4, 1965) is an American politician, lawyer, and activist. He served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2001 and 2005 and was president of the Board. In 2003, Gonzalez, running as a member of the Gr ...
's office.
SFGate The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
wrote: "The timing and placement of the artwork are interesting, seeing how City Hall is a registered historical landmark, and you need approval just to hang a bulletin board". Gonzalez told the press that he knew his office would be repainted for the next occupant.Lelchuk, I. ''San Francisco Chronicle'' on the web, December 10, 2004. McGee was involved in a controversy regarding the
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacture ...
Y1 HUF, a shoe for which he provided the artwork. This gave rise to a protest campaign by some Asian-Americans who claimed that the picture on the shoe's tongue depicts a racist
stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for exampl ...
. McGee responded to the controversy in a March 2006 press release. He stated that the drawing was a portrait of himself as an 8-year-old child.


Selected exhibitions

*1999: ''The Buddy System,'' Deitch Gallery in New York City, NYC *1999: ''HOSS,'' Rice Gallery in Houston, TX *2001: with Todd James, and
Stephen Powers Stephen Powers (1840–1904) was an American journalist, ethnographer, and historian of Native American tribes in California. He traveled extensively to study and learn about their cultures, and wrote notable accounts of them. His articles ...
,
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
*2004: ''Barry McGee and Josh Lazcano'', Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco, CA *2004:
Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...
*2006: Featured in ''Beautiful Losers'' exhibition at Circleculture Gallery in Berlin, Germany *2006–2007: LOFT installation at Roberts & Tilton Gallery in Los Angeles, CA *2007:
Watari Museum of Contemporary Art The , commonly referred to as Watari-um, is a museum of contemporary art located in Shibuya, Tokyo. Founded by Shizuko Watari and opened in 1990, the museum is near Gaienmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. The institution promotes concep ...
*2008:
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...
*2008: ''The Big Sad'' (With Clare Rojas),
Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...
*2008: ''Life on Mars'' ''Carnegie International'' *2008: Ratio 3 in San Francisco, CA *2009: ''McGee / Templeton / Pettibon'' exhibition curated by
Aaron Rose Aaron Rose is an American film director, artist, exhibition curator and writer. Rose is known as the co-director of ''Beautiful Losers'', a film that focuses on an art movement which includes artists such as Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, S ...
at Circleculture Gallery in Berlin, Germany *2009–2010: Biennale de Lyon, France *2010: ''The Last Night'' (With HuskMitNavn)'','' A.L.I.C.E. gallery in Brussels, Belgium *2012: Retrospective at the
Berkeley Art Museum The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director from ...
*2019: ''The Other Side'', solo show, Perrotin Gallery, Hong Kong * 2021 : ''Fuzz Gathering,'' solo show,
Galerie Perrotin Perrotin is a contemporary art gallery founded in 1990 by Emmanuel Perrotin, at the age of twenty-one. He has since opened over eighteen spaces, with the aim of offering increasingly vibrant and creative environments in which to experience art. H ...
, Paris''Barry Mcgee Légende vivante du graffiti'', Beaux Arts Magazine, , Octobre 2021, pp. 68-75


See also

*
Beautiful Losers (film) ''Beautiful Losers'' is a 2008 documentary filmed by director Aaron Rose and co-directed by Joshua Leonard. It was produced by Sidetrack Films in association with BlackLake Productions, and stars several artists including Harmony Korine (writer of ...
*
Mission School The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California. History and characteristics This movement is generally considered to have ...
*
Lowbrow (art movement) Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, is an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. It is a populist art movement with its cultural roots in underground comix, punk music, tiki culture, graffiti, and ...
*
Piece by Piece (documentary) ''Piece by Piece'' is a 2005 documentary film directed by Nic Hill. The film documents San Francisco's graffiti culture from the early 1980s to 2004. It is narrated by the San Francisco graffiti artist Senor One, better known as Renos. The ''San F ...


Bibliography

*McGee, Barry, Ellen Robinson, and Katya Tylevich. ''Barry McGee''. Bologna: Damiani, (2018). *Boas, Natasha. ''Energy that is all around: Mission School: Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Alicia McCarthy, Barry McGee, Ruby Neri''. San Francisco: San Francisco Art Institute Chronicle Books, (2014). *Rinder, Lawrence, and Barry McGee. ''Barry McGee''. Berkeley & New York: University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc, (2012). *Rose, Aaron (editor), ''Barry McGee'' . Tokyo: Damiani, (2010). *Kilgallen, Margaret, et al. ''Margaret kilgallen : in the sweet bye & bye''. Los Angeles: California Institute of the Arts/REDCAT, (2006). *Bertelli, Patrizio, Barry McGee. Fondazione Prada, (2002). *Kawachi, Taka, ''Street Market: Barry McGee, Stephen Powers, Todd James''. Little More, (2000).


References


Bibliography

* Barry McGee. 2002. ''Barry McGee: The Buddy System''. * Barry McGee, Germano Celant, Prada. 2003. ''Barry McGee''. * Aaron Rose and Christian Strike (editors). 2004. ''Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture''.


External links


Barry McGee at Ratio 3
San Francisco, CA {{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Barry 1966 births Living people Artists from San Francisco American graffiti artists American people of Chinese descent American people of Irish descent San Francisco Art Institute alumni Mission District, San Francisco People from South San Francisco, California Painters from California