Who is Barry McGee? Graffiti artist? Canvas artist? Signwriter? Sculptor?
All of the above, in fact, and more. McGee, who also masquerades under the monikers Ray and Lydia Fong and the tag Twist, is a difficult man to pigeon-hole, and equally challenging to exhibit, one imagines, but that’s a challenge that the curating team at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive have taken on.
This exhibition, a mid-career retrospective, takes in McGee’s multi-faceted work born on the streets of San Francisco and nurtured at the SF Art Institute. Drawing on his Mission District neighbourhood influences, the artist has been creating there since the ’80s. Wall murals, large-scale gallery installations and his trademark illustrated bottle labels, featuring an array of discombobulated and exasperated faces, sit cheek by jowl.
There is a chance to look over some rarely-seen early etchings and prints, as well as more modern animatronics. The old cliché there’s something here for everyone has never been more apt.
Photo © Sibila Savage
Photo © Colin M. Day
Photo © Styrous
Photo © Leif Hedendal
Photo © Sibila Savage
Photo © Sibila Savage
Photo © Sibila Savage
Photo © Colin M. Day
Photo © Leif Hedendal
Photo © Sibila Savage
