Twist

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:

now, barry "twist" mcgee is moving forward after being absent on the art scene for years. i heard rumors that his wife died shortly after giving birth to their only child in the early 00s. i'm sure this is what has kept him quiet. but now he's opened a solo show in England, and his graceful, delicate line paintings have expanded to include graphic blocks of color reminiscent of MC Escher's backgrounds. perfect.

so take note. it seems Barry is Back. but please just call him Twist.