Barry McGee, Perrotin Tokyo

Potato Sack Body
February 7 – March 28, 2020 (Opens from 6 to 8pm on Feb 7)

Perrotin Tokyo is pleased to announce Potato Sack Body, its first solo exhibition by Barry McGee, following his immersive show in the gallery’s Hong Kong space in 2019. Incorporating an eclectic
selection of media, McGee presents an iconography that underlines the complexity of urban life, depicted in the forms of vibrant patterns, stylized acronyms, sullen-faced caricatures, and other signature motifs, in a colorful exploration of the human condition.

Based in San Francisco, McGee is associated with the Mission School, an artistic movement with influences from American folk art, Op art, and urban realism, that encompasses the spirit of urban
culture and its strong sense of community. Taking inspiration fromthe city he calls home, as well as the places he has resided in throughout his artistic career, McGee constructs site-specific
installations that evoke his playful investigations into space and the unending dialogue between art and life.

With an assemblage of multi-panel paintings, framed works, individually painted ceramics and bottles, repurposed found objects, and columns of photography and drawings, McGee confers an
extraordinary versatility and an inclusive approach to art. The wide array of elements also evokes a sense of community and diversity that could be seen typical of the Bay area from which he hails.

As an artist who thrives on improvisation, McGee experiments with juxtapositions and resonances between imagery and material within his built environments. Projecting a sense of the collective, they
correspond to McGee’s concept of art as a collaborative and unifying endeavor beyond the sole genius of the artist.

Barry McGee was born in San Francisco, California in 1966. He received his BFA in painting and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at museums and institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Berkeley Art
Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; and Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan. McGee’s works are included in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA; the BerkeleyArt Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Walker ArtCenter, Minneapolis, MN; The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK; and
Fondazione Prada, Venice, Italy.

PERROTIN TOKYO
PIRAMIDE BUILDING, 1F, 6-6-9 ROPPONGI, MINATO-KU, TOKYO 106-0032