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barry mcgee. loved his work before i knew who he was. watched him rise up to art star status. saw his work move from the N-Judah tunnel to the SFMOMA. by total luck, total generosity, total bliss - i have one of his paintings.
it was 1999. my friend took me to an art auction at The Lab because "twist," one of my all-time favorites had a piece up for auction.
the starting price was $50. we got our paddle and got ready. the auction started off with a bang. quickly rising to $500, it soon became a battle between me and another girl. my friend told me she'd give (yes, give - it was the dot.com boom years and she had built an impressive "portfolio") me $500 and i could take it as far as i wanted as long as i could pay any extra. the fight was on. this girl and i kept bidding in $50 increments. we were both just regular indie girls in their 20s. it's not like we were loaded, we were just stricken with a deep love for the most popular and exciting piece in the show - and a load of adrenaline. the crowd was cheering loudly. there may have been screams. it's kind of a blur. needless to say i won. when i gave the final bid of $600 and was declared the winner, a huge cheer went up. people stomped their feet and clapped. the girl who did not win gave me a shrug and a smile. i jumped up in the air like a lucky little leprechaun and went home with my first seriously collectible piece of art.
i love it so much. it has never left prominent display in my house. fortunately the thieves who robbed me two years in a row in 2001-2 had no idea how much money was hanging on the wall right above the $3 pot pipe they stole.
my piece resembles this one:
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so take note. it seems Barry is Back. but please just call him Twist.
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