Rare Twist Interview from 2000

Rare e-mail interview from 2000 with Barry McGee (via  Entertaining Things)

Art school improved my understanding of art. Graffiti, which is not art, to me, it can only be improved by doing tons of it, with out permission, outdoors, not in some dumb art school.

You don’t consider graffiti art?

I think that graffiti has some ‘art-like’ qualities, but I think it is something far greater than this petty term “art’. When I hear the word ‘art’, I think of safe, middle aged, has-beens, such as myself, painting 2′x 2′ canvases in the quiet safety of their well lit Soho studio. In contrast, that damn kid out racking paint, catching tags on the way to his ’spot’, cutting holes in fences, stepping in human poop, painting in complete darkness, and then coming back the next day to get a photo to find the piece has been buffed, sounds more like hell than art.

When you were first approached by galleries you weren’t interested, why did you change your mind? 

I’ve have always been interested in the non-profit galleries. They are like the independent record labels. They,in idea, are alternatives to the commercial galleries. I was raised by non-profits. My first commercial art gallery show was in 1998.

Do people in the art world embrace graffiti or just enjoy individual artists?

If they can make a buck on it, they embrace it, if not it remains a threat, which I like.