Caged Brain

1990

Tyree Guyton American, born 1955

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Guyton’s art is based in the modernist tradition of the found object, in which an object is disengaged from its normal use and set into a new context by the artist. “Caged Brain,” a battered bird cage and dusty length of rope, combines two discarded ordinary objects into a work rich with surreal associations and ideas about the oppression of the urban experience. Guyton is best known for his major work, the “Heidelberg Project,” a several block “art environment” on Detroit’s east side.

Title Caged Brain

Artwork Date 1990

Artist Tyree Guyton

Life Dates born 1955

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Mixed media

Dimensions Overall: 16 × 14 × 10 1/2 inches (40.6 × 35.6 × 26.7 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African American Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture Fund and Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1991.177

Markings

Signed Signed, at base: Tyree Guyton 1990

Inscriptions Signed and dated in black ink at base: Tyree Guyton 1990

Provenance

1991-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

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We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Courtesy of Tyree Guyton

Tyree Guyton, Caged Brain, 1990, mixed media. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture Fund and Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman Fund, 1991.177.