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 Read Quote
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 Read Quote
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 Read Quote
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 Read Quote
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 Read Quote
Drawings, paintings, and sculptures. That’s the three pillars of art academia. Barry McGee Read Quote
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 Read Quote
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 Read Quote
