San Francisco artist Barry McGee, 60, has mounted his first gallery exhibition with Jeffrey Deitch in two decades, transforming the Santa Monica Boulevard space with a sprawling assemblage of photographs, drawings, found objects, and a replica of a 99 Cents Only store, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Bottom Line
- Barry McGee’s exhibition “Another Round” runs through Jan. 30 at Jeffrey Deitch’s Santa Monica Boulevard gallery.
- The show features collaborations with around 200 artists, including a makeshift anarchist bookstore and a miniature replica of the shuttered Wilshire Boulevard 99 Cents Only store.
- The exhibition marks McGee’s first show with Deitch in more than 20 years, following a massive pop-up event earlier in the year that drew approximately 25,000 visitors.
From Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard
The current exhibition follows McGee’s weeklong art takeover in February of a shuttered Wilshire Boulevard 99 Cents Only retailer. That pop-up event, staged in collaboration with dealer Jeffrey Deitch and the Hole, drew an estimated 25,000 visitors during L.A.’s Art Week. Taco reported that several participating artists had not been paid for work sold during the exhibition. Kathy Grayson, who runs the Hole in New York, stated in an email that all artists and vendors have since been paid, describing the pop-up as a gigantic undertaking she stepped in to help realize.
Inside the Community-Driven Exhibition
Titled “Another Round,” the new show occupies Jeffrey Deitch’s gallery with works by roughly 200 like-minded artists, including C.R. Stecyk III, Chito K.K., and Chris Lux. A makeshift storefront within the gallery houses an anarchist bookstore with activities organized by Matthew James-Wilson, operator of the Heavy Manners lending library and gallery in Echo Park. Planned events during the three-month run include French beading, papier-mâché workshops, clothed figure drawing, and music shows. Adjacent to the bookstore, an untitled installation on a plywood structure displays framed messages, photographs of friends, textile-inspired imagery, and car sketches drawn on napkins by McGee’s father.
| Exhibition Detail | Fact / Figure |
|---|---|
| Artist | Barry McGee (60) |
| Gallery | Jeffrey Deitch, Santa Monica Boulevard |
| Exhibition Run | Through Jan. 30 |
| Prior Pop-Up Attendance | Approx. 25,000 visitors |
| Participating Artists | Around 200 |
Rejecting the Street Art Label
When asked whether he was bringing street art inside the gallery, McGee pushed back against the label. Coming up in San Francisco’s graffiti scene in the 1980s under the moniker Twist, McGee developed a visual language featuring faces, liquor bottles, and stylized screws influenced by the city’s punk, skate, surf, and graffiti cultures. He views traditional graffiti as separate from the commercial gallery market, noting that when he began tagging, there was no product at the end. Jeffrey Deitch described McGee as possessing a unique kind of charisma, noting that despite being shy, the artist remains accessible and deeply connected to his community.
Refusing the Center of Attention
Despite the exhibition bearing his name, McGee expressed wariness about being the center of attention. Tom Franco, a Bay Area artist who collaborated on the staging, noted McGee’s dedication to supporting and mentoring younger creators. Working into the evenings after mornings spent surfing with his crew, McGee contrasts his current freedom to improvise at Deitch with the lengthy, rigid planning schedules of museums that can stretch out seven years. A week before the exhibition opened, McGee admitted he still did not know what the final outcome would be.
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