Based in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, Tashif Turner, better known as “Sheefy McFly,” is a visual artist, muralist, rapper, and DJ, whose artwork and music can be experienced throughout the city.   He has quickly become known as a contemporary artist with graffiti-based and counter-culture roots.

As a student at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, McFly found his visual voice by skillfully bringing together several disparate styles, practices, and traditions. His artwork is heavily influenced by the Neo-Expressionist art movement, an art movement developed as a reaction against the conceptual and minimal art of the 1970s. Neo-expressionists portrayed recognizable objects, such as the human body, but often in abstract or unexpected ways and vivid colors, both ideals prominent in McFly’s painted portraits. Neo-expressionists also used their media in raw and emotional ways, an influence found in McFly’s connection to the history of graffiti in Detroit. Throughout McFly’s body of work, there are also influences from Cubism and Abstract Expressionism.

In 2023, the GVSU Art Museum co-hosted several Detroit-based artists, including Sheefy McFly, in collaboration with local gallery MUSE GR, for an exhibition titled “Convergence: Cracks in the Glass Ceiling.” The exhibition represented artists breaking boundaries for growth and maturity regarding culture, community, and experiences.

Explore more artwork by Sheefy McFly