Barry McGee, also known as Twist, was born 1966 in San Francisco, where he currently resides (2004) and has attained cult hero status amongst a "bi-coastal subculture that comprises skaters, graffiti artists, and West Coast surfers." Inspired by street life, graffiti, punk and hard-core music, and the culture of tramps, hobos, and transients, "McGee makes art that evokes traces of human presence."

A "New York Times" review of his summer 2004 exhibition at the Rose Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts had this description by Tessa De Carlo: "It's an expansive, noisy installation that includes a five-foot tower of 49 chattering television sets; kinetic sculptures; clusters of framed drawings and painted bottles featuring Mr. McGee's signa...