Invisible Doors
Artist
Tyree Guyton
(American, born 1955)
Date2007
MediumPainted steel
Dimensions173 × 60 × 68 in. (439.4 × 152.4 × 172.7 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Object numberUAC2319
DescriptionTyree Guyton, a Detroit native, started his metamorphic Heidelberg Project in 1986. Tyree’s reason for the project was to offset the deterioration of his neighborhood that had been heavily showered with drugs, prostitution, crime, and gangs. From the debris, he was able to create imaginative, colorful dreamscapes out of found objects as he aimed to create a medicine for the people. Tyree Guyton says that the creative process of the Heidelberg Project helped him understand the ideas of new hope and beginnings, as well as how to create beauty from what he sees, understands, and from himself.Wayne State University has a piece of Guyton’s on Warren Avenue near the Welcome Center. Amongst the white and beige structures that surround it, Invisible Doors stands out with its vividity. The structure is characterized with a unique geometry, welded together to create a mystical flow. The doors are painted with a combination of five playful colors, tempting a passerby to wonder where these doors lead.
Tyree Guyton said of Invisible Doors, “it is designed with the hope of helping people to open the mental doors of our minds- doors that often block us from seeing new possibilities for all people”.
This installation was made possible by the Joyce Award, donations to Wayne State University, and Andre F. Malo.
-Written by Marissa N. Gannascoli-
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