Barry McGee

Barry McGee was born in San Francisco in 1966 and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991, where he focused on painting and printmaking. Today, McGee is recognized for his pioneering work as a graffiti artist and as an iconic figure in San Francisco’s Mission School movement. His work was included in the 2001 Venice Biennale, which increased the visibility and value of street art in the fine art market and disrupted conventional distinctions between high and low art. Appealing to a variety of audiences, from surfers to highbrow curators, McGee’s work often features geometric patterns, caricatures, and typescripts. Reflecting on the detritus of contemporary life, he occasionally paints directly on salvaged materials, such as spray paint canisters, glass bottles, used surfboards, and scrap metal. In his work as a printmaker, he manipulates the language of typography and emoticons to produce figurative works of art.

McGee’s work has been exhibited at Perrotin Gallery in Hong Kong; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; the UCLA Hammer in Los Angeles; and the Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, California. He is represented by Ratio 3 Gallery in San Francisco.

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