If you think of street art as simply graffiti mucking up the walls, buildings, trains, and other objects throughout our cities, you might want to pop over to the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston to check out their latest exhibit celebrating famed west coast street artist Barry McGee.
He has made street art his life’s work since he began in the 1980s and he’s still going strong, bringing a high-art edge to the medium.
McGee, who has his roots in tagging (he was called “Twist” in his early years), now creates work that stretches across all manner of media. “He plays with size and scale to alter our perception of space, and utilizes found objects in his work,” says Jenelle Porter, Mannion Family Senior Curator at the ICA. “Letterpress print trays, televisions, surfboards—all everyday items that are used in unexpected ways. These objects vary in size from small glass bottles to a shipping container.”
The ICA will showcase 30 of McGee’s pieces, including early works and a particularly massive installation of frames, displayed in a staggered and seemingly nonsensical pattern, with a collection of both colorful pieces and simple line drawings inside each one. “Barry’s use of color is a key element of his work,” said Porter.
“He uses it to express an emotion, a mood, a place; all things that rely on color and form for expression.”
With McGee’s astonishing attention to detail in the smaller aspects of the frames and the sheer scale of the overall installation, the piece is stunning. “McGee has been a pioneer in his field, having inspired contemporaries such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey,” says Porter. “While he is a towering presence in the realm of contemporary art and activist art, his work is relatable and accessible, serious and playful.”
So if you’re getting bored of the graffiti-as-fine-art thing, McGee’s ICA exhibition will renew your faith in the medium.
BARRY MCGEE AT THE WEST GALLERY
SAT 4.6.13-MON 9.2.13
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART BOSTON
100 NORTHERN AVE.
BOSTON
TIMES VARY/ALL AGES/$15 GA, $13 SENIORS, $10 STUDENTS
ICABOSTON.ORG
@ICAINBOSTON
