Barry McGee is San Francisco. He has, for nearly 40 years, been part of the visual culture, an ambassador of underground scene, graffiti, surfing, fine art and a classic folk soul that, at the heart, is the still part of the city’s DNA. The Mission School still has a hold on the identity of the real San Francisco, and no tech uprising can truly take that away. So McGee showing in Downtown SF, with Old Mystified at Berggruen Gallery, feels like a homecoming for someone who never left home in the first place. It feels right because it is right. From SFAI to SECA, TWIST to an internationally recognized fine artist, McGee continues to be a fresh take on what art can be. It’s messy and yet so clean. It’s low and high. It’s folk and fine. —Evan Pricco
