Barry McGee (born 1966 in San Francisco, California) is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto.
McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California. He later graduated from the SFAI in 1991 with a concentration in painting and printmaking.
McGee rose out of the Mission School art movement and graffiti boom in the San Francisco Bay Area during the early nineties. His work draws heavily from a pessimistic view of the urban experience, which he describes as, “urban ills, overstimulations, frustrations, addictions & trying to maintain a level head under the constant bombardment of advertising”.
McGee’s paintings are very iconic, with central figures dominating abstracted backgrounds of drips, patterns and color fields. He has also painted portraits of street characters on their own empty bottles of liquor, painted flattened spray cans picked up at train yards and painted wrecked vehicles for art shows.
McGee has had numerous shows in many kinds of galleries and was also an artist in residence at inner-city McClymonds High School in Oakland, California in the early 1990s.
He was married to the artist Margaret Kilgallen, who died of cancer in 2001. The couple has a daughter named Asha.
The market value of his work rose considerably after 2001 as a result of his being included in several major exhibitions. As a result, much of his San Francisco street art has been scavenged or stolen.
I remember taking a trip to NYC in the mid-90′s and finding a Twist screw there – it was hands down my most prized graff photograph. He was one of the few graff artists outside of SLC (yes, SLC had quite a graff scene in the 90′s) that I followed – he was hands down my favorite. I had never seen any of his work in real life (only in photos) so seeing it in person where I least expected was truly a stand out moment for me.
Thanks for taking me on a pleasant trip down memory lane