Artist Barry McGee’s name may not be familiar but his drip designs and iconic male figures with sagging eyes are universally recognizable. McGee, a native Californian, began as a street artist known by the tag name Twist in the 1980s. But by the 90s, he had branched out and began creating paintings, drawings, and mixed-media installations that include empty liquor bottles, tagged signs, scrap wood, and metal.
Since then, McGee has become the most respected street artist turned legit artist (sorry, Shep) in the country and has had his work displayed in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
Despite his success, McGee is still known to tag a few buildings now and then because he feels Graffiti keeps him in touch with a larger, more diverse audience. ]]>