Greyhounding

The representation of the African American experience and its general misrepresentation in the creation of mainstream culture is the subject of McGee's work.  McGee adds to the dialogue of others in the collection by Robert Colescott (1990.494), Ellen Gallagher (1994.278) and Kara Walker (2005.339) who use racial stereotypes, theatricality and media imagery to address the serious issues which surround their personal experiences. His talent to paint and draw in a variety of historical styles combined with his satirical subject matter brought attention to his work.  He is a representational painter and finds inspiration for the images he juxtaposes to create provocative commentaries from historical literature, art history and current media.  In this series he has interpreted characters and expressions defined by Clarence Major in Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang.