A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in painting and printmaking, Barry McGee is a leading figure of the Mission School, an artistic movement that emerged in San Francisco in the 1990s, drawing inspiration from graffiti culture, American folk art, and everyday urban life. Deeply rooted in the streets, his practice combines a critical examination of contemporary society with a longstanding commitment to marginalized communities.

Since his early days working under the graffiti moniker "Twist," Barry McGee has developed a distinctive visual language shaped by his interest in outsiders and the social realities of urban life. Working through various artistic personas, including Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, P. Kin, Ray Virgil, and Bernon Vernon, he explores themes of consumerism, social inequality, and exclusion. Among his most recognizable motifs is a male face with drooping eyes, which has become an emblem of his empathy for those living on the margins of society.

His artistic universe is characterized by an abundance of geometric patterns, recurring symbols, and intricate compositions, often built through the accumulation of images and objects. Rejecting traditional boundaries between disciplines, McGee experiments with a wide range of materials and supports, from paintings and drawings to glass bottles, panels, and found objects. His densely layered installations, monumental murals, and meticulously assembled compositions explore the relationship between public and private space while challenging conventional notions of how art is displayed and made accessible.

Barry McGee's work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at major international institutions, including Fondazione Prada in Milan, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara.

His works are held in significant public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the New Art Gallery Walsall in the United Kingdom, and Fondazione Prada.