You have said that “galleries are boring” and “the trend of graffiti in galleries will pass” Tell me what you mean about the boring statement and why do you think the trend will pass? Or are these quotes rather aged and from some time ago?
McGEE: Did I say that? There must be some truth to it… even if said long ago. Well yes, galleries are boring. So is television, Hollywood blockbusters, the Internet and so on. They all bore me to tears. Maybe I am old fashioned, but the thought of doing something outdoors while everyone is asleep or on the Internet is exciting to me. Taking over an abandoned building, or better yet an occupied corporation, with your name, not theirs, has almost the same thrill as when people used to build pyramids, or when they carved the giant sphinx. I want kids spraying their names over billboards with fire extinguishers filled with paint. I want people taking back the street with images they came up with, not a million dollar ad agency doing another ‘guerrilla’ ad campaign. I want an organic spraypaint…

And yes, I would like graffiti in galleries safely back out on the streets. That got my blood racing…

Your work is becoming increasingly abstract. What do you feel has shaped this progression?
McGEE: Okay… well I have said this before, but for about the last 20 years I had been wondering if I would ever have an encounter with abstraction. It began slowly, patterns with images that I had used for far too long. That went on for some time, five or six years. Today, I’m a full blown abstract artist. It feels awkward and clumsy.

I have a side project doing still lifes also. Weird…

Although awkward and clumsy to you, do you enjoy it the way you did when your were not painting abstract? Is it as fun?
McGEE: Oh yes. It completely consumes me. I have all of these ideas of what I want to happen with it. I want to shove it into all types of shapes and let it take its own shape too. Set up a dialog with something that I can’t understand for the life of me what it is saying. It feels like I’m only a few seconds into a 20 year trek.

I’ve read that you have a daughter and you mentioned her outside of this interview. How old is she and the obvious curiosity question is… Do you think she will follow in her dad’s footsteps as an artist and tagger?
McGEE: My daughter is seven years old. We have carved our names into some plaster walls, spray painted a few doggy heads here and there, when appropriate, and usually try to explain to her that my ‘99 white Astro van is off limits, even though the neighborhood kids enjoy tagging on it. She seems to enjoy most art, street or museums. Her favorite thing on the street that we see bicycling to school is ‘Sad Jose’ a cartoon character that is spraypainted everywhere in the Mission District.

I would be fine with her spraypainting over any advertisement that was degrading to her or her friends, even if she was told it was ‘private property’. I would be upset if she did wildstyle computer rock legal pieces, as would any parent of this generation.

What are you working on right now?
McGEE: Right now I’m working on a book cover for ‘The Best American Nonrequired Reading’. I just finished an artist project with Cinelli Bicycles which will be out soon. I made a piece this evening for a benefit for Hospitality House here in San Francisco. Oh, and I’m working on a small piece for some group show in Europe.

What is life like for you right now?
McGEE: Life on earth right now is pretty good. I have a studio a few blocks away that I can ride my bicycle to. I have two really good helpers Jesse and Matthew who help with all the loose ends. They ride bikes also. In fact there is a pile of bicycles in the studio next to a pile of surfboards. The surfboard pile is about 12 feet high, the bike pile about four feet. There is this amazing population of derelicts on bicycles here in San Francisco. It’s like the last frontier. You don’t need insurance, no license, no gas, some even ride with no tires just on the rims. It seems to be the only transportation that you can drive, with a beer in hand and not have a DUI. Very empowering. Also a pirate radio station has set up shop in the neighborhood which is great for the community. It feels like San Francisco is recovering quite nicely from that tech explosion a few years back. I’ll let you know…

Barry McGee is represented by Deitch Projects