Barry McGee b. 1966

Barry McGee is an American painter and graffiti artist. He graduated with a degree in painting and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. Upon graduation, McGee remained in San Francisco to pursue his artistic career. He became influenced by street art, urban culture and Mexican muralists. McGee became well-known on the streets under the tag "twist" and later decided to expand his presence in untraditional places for graffiti art such as art galleries. He is known to paint directly on gallery walls and install mixed-media collages that included painted bottles, TV screens and spray-paint cans.

McGee has held exhibitions all over the world, including in Milan, Tokyo and London. He was also chosen to represent the United States at the 49^th Venice Biennale in 2001. McGee's work is highly influential in the urban art scene, inspiring graphic designers, sticker art and graffiti.

Barry McGee has work featured in the permanent collections of Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the San Francisco MoMA, the UCLA Hammer Museum, the Burger Collection in Berlin, the Museum het Domein in Sittard, the Margulies Collection in Miami, the MoMA in New York and Bolinas Museum in California.

Related Categories: Graffiti/Street Art, Color Photography, Mixed-Media, Photography, Work on Paper, California Art, Surveillance, Text, United States, Engagement with Mass Media, Figurative Painting, Painting, Collage, Installation, Illustration/Art, Americana, Diaristic, Group of Objects, Popular Culture, Use of Common Materials, Childhood, Representation of Everyday Objects, Humor, Urbanization, Narrative.