A longtime graffiti artist who’s supplemented his street smarts with a BFA, San Franciscan Barry McGee is one of the latest in a long line to percolate from the underground into the sanctioned halls of high art. Transforming the despised into the desirable, bringing the romance of the urban outlaw indoors, he was given free rein in the Walker Art Center’s Gallery 7 for his first solo museum exhibition.

The untitled installation (1998) comprised numerous parts, one of which, directly adjacent to the gallery entry, emphasized the illicit aspect of McGee’s art. Dozens of spent spray cans were