Government and street art are about the funniest frenemies we can think of. Last year Brisbane City Council buffed a commissioned Lister work thinking it was vandalism while the poor upkeep of Melbourne’s Keith Haring mural was blamed on the Victorian State Government. This year things appear to be amicable again with street artist Barry McGee set to ply his trade for Art & About’s Laneway Art program. Commissioned by the City Of Sydney and curated by Amanda Sharrad and Justine Topfer, McGee will transform the CBD’s Tank Stream Way with a work that channels “the free spirit of graffiti, the random energy of the urbane, and the pure intent of controlled artistry”. If you’re a fan, McGee will discuss his work tonight at the Art Gallery of NSW so if you need to clarify what “the pure intent of controlled artistry” means you should ask him. We highly recommend you do that. In the meantime try not to cry during this doco about McGee and his late wife and collaborator Margaret Kilgallen.
What: Barry McGee artist talk with John Kaldor
Where: Centenary Auditorium, Art Gallery Of New South Wales
When: Wednesday 14 September 2011, 7.30pm
