I love biographies. I read Patti Smith's 'Just Kids.' I'm into that time frame in New York, the '70s and '80s. In art school, I read 'Close to the Knives,' the autobiography of the artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz. Barry McGee More Quotes by Barry McGee More Quotes From Barry McGee That's immediately how I gauge how healthy a city is-by the amount of tags. It's just in direct competition with advertising. It's still one of the last things that hasn't been corrupted. Barry McGee competition healthy cities Some people are enraged, and some people are applauding. If there were a mission statement for graffiti, that would be it. Barry McGee graffiti would-be people Most inspiration still comes from bicycling around San Francisco. This city never fails to inspire me. It is one of the most vibrant cities - especially visually - with a constant influx of young energy arriving daily. I love it. Barry McGee san-francisco inspiration cities I want to do just, like, regular art. Whatever is made today on canvas goes up against all of art history. Its the most radical thing. Barry McGee want today art The parts of graffiti I like are really antagonizing still - it's not something that a museum would really embrace. Barry McGee embrace graffiti museums I'm really into California art from the '60s. Barry McGee california art Some of my favorite pieces are from thrift shops. When I find something I really love, I live, work and sleep in it. Barry McGee live work sleep love It's very intense to go back to the past and revive work that I've already experienced and moved forward from. It's like seeing an old girlfriend - awkward at times, nostalgic at times and downright maddening and embarrassing. Barry McGee back go work past I wasn't trying to turn graffiti into an art form. I just wanted to learn about art. I wanted to learn this game. Barry McGee game just trying art Work done illegally outdoors or without permission feels like pure freedom to me. I understand how it can upset many in our society, but in the bigger picture, it is ultimately about freedom. We are living in a time where public space has become a commodity for corporations to control and dictate what is seen and heard. Barry McGee me freedom work time Drawings, paintings, and sculptures. That's the three pillars of art academia. Barry McGee paintings pillars three art I read in a weird way. It comes in waves, and then I start, like, five different books at once. It takes me six months to a year to finish them all, since I read mostly on planes. Barry McGee waves weird me way I have tons of art books. I have them all over the place. They are in my car, in my bag, and in my studio. There are books around me all the time. Barry McGee me car time art As soon as I start reading, drawing comes to me more easily. I find I work in my sketchbooks more. But if I'm working on a new show, my reading completely stops except when I'm on a plane. I take a stack of New Yorkers with me. I feel awful about those stacks of New Yorkers. Barry McGee feel me drawing work As soon as street art got popular, I was just like, 'I'm out of here.' Barry McGee street just like art Street artists need to get back to actually doing things on the streets instead of in the galleries where they all seem to be ending up. I hope this term 'street artist' falls from the face of the earth, in my honest opinion. Barry McGee ending street face hope I see a really good tag on a building, a man passed out in the middle of the street, a couple hugging, a cop arresting a panhandler. I'm interested in how all these things are happening in one block. Barry McGee street good man building For me, graffiti means making marks on surfaces using just about anything, be it markers, spray, paint, chalk, lipstick, varnish, ink. Or it can be the result of scratches and incisions. The aim is to maintain the energy created by disturbance or excitement in the street. Barry McGee street result me aim I love graffiti because it enables kids from every social extraction to do something that brings them closer to art, when they normally wouldn't be stimulated to be visually creative. Graffiti helps to develop an awareness of immediate expressive and uncontrolled freedom. Barry McGee freedom creative love art I just try to get away with as much as I can. I don't think that's very radical in the art world. Barry McGee think i-can world art
