Barry McGee

American

, b. 1966

Website

A member of the so-called Mission School, Barry McGee got his start as a graffiti artist in late 1980s San Francisco, where he tagged under the moniker Twist. In the decades since, he’s embraced a studio practice that includes sculptures, which retain the grit of his aesthetic beginnings: He’s incorporated motifs of empty liquor bottles, spray-paint cans, and scrap metal into his work. McGee also makes drawings, paintings, and mixed-media installations that address the realities of contemporary urban life; rampant consumerism and social stratification are particular concerns. McGee’s signatures include colorful geometric patterns and a recurring male character with sagging, tired eyes. He often presents his paintings framed and mounted together in large clusters. McGee has been the subject of solo exhibitions at museums and institutions including Fondazione Prada in Milan, the Hammer Museum, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. On the secondary market, his work has sold for six-figure prices.