somos media

Despite, or perhaps in ironic conjunction with, Mayor Giuliani’s efforts to make New York City clean and pristine, graffiti has become a respected staple of the gallery scene. Barry “Twist” McGee’s tags and caricatures are no exception, nor were they when displayed at the Venice Biennale this past summer. With more than 15 years of street cred, the California tagger’s lively, humorous, and often bulbous depictions of street characters don’t so much bring the street into the gallery as bring the gallery out into the street. This catalog was produced on the occasion of the exhibition “The Buddy System” at the Deitch Projects gallery in New York. Color, black and white, and some blank pages. “Compelling art to me is a name carved into a tree. Sometimes a rock soaring through a plate of glass can be the most beautiful, compelling work of art I have ever seen.” -Barry McGee