Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American artist. He is known for graffiti art, and for being part of the Mission School art movement. McGee is credited as contributing to bringing urban art into high-end galleries.
As an graffiti artist, McGee is known by multiple monikers: 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. McGee's father worked at an auto body repair shop. McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California.
He attended the San Francisco Art Institute, where he graduated in 1991 with a concentration in painting and printmaking.
McGee was married to the artist Margaret Kilgallen 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.
Career
Commissioned murals typical of Barry McGee's earlier work and graffiti in the LACMA parking garage (now torn down)
McGee was a central figure in the graffiti art scene in San Francisco from the late 1980s[citation needed] and into the 1990s.
Later he was part of a group of young, San Francisco artists known as the Mission School art movement based in the aesthetics of the Mission District 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-cityMcClymonds High School in Oakland, California, 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 movement.
Installation, Xe Biennale de Lyon
McGee's installations consist of simple bold paintings which are influenced by Islamic patterns on tiles, vernacular sign painting, or use caricatures 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, 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 and other major exhibitions. As a result, much of his San Francisco street art has been scavenged or stolen.
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 and the Creative Work Fund, was stolen off a vacant commercial building in the South of Market 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's office. SFGate 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.
McGee was involved in a controversy regarding the Adidas 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. 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
Woman photographing a Barry McGee installation, Xe Biennale de Lyon
1999: The Buddy System, Deitch Gallery in New York City, NYC
McGee, Barry, Ellen Robinson, and Katya Tylevich. Barry McGee. Bologna: Damiani, (2018). ISBN978-8862086165
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). ISBN978-1452142180
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). ISBN978-1935202851
Rose, Aaron (editor), Barry McGee . Tokyo: Damiani, (2010). ISBN978-8862080965
Kilgallen, Margaret, et al. Margaret kilgallen: in the sweet bye & bye. Los Angeles: California Institute of the Arts/REDCAT, (2006). ISBN978-0974983165
Bertelli, Patrizio, Barry McGee. Fondazione Prada, (2002). ISBN978-8887029215
Kawachi, Taka, Street Market: Barry McGee, Stephen Powers, Todd James. Little More, (2000). ISBN978-4898150399
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