Contact: Janet Harvey Clark, MSU College of Law, (517) 432-6959; or Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

9/07/2004

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University College of Law will host “An American Show,” an exhibit featuring the works of Detroit artist Tyree Guyton.

The exhibit, co-sponsored by Batista Gallery of Fenton, will open on Thursday, Sept. 9, with a reception at 4:30 p.m. at the college and will run through December. The artist will attend the opening.

A native of Detroit, Guyton has concentrated his work on the real-life issues of the inner city and society. He is known for his open-air installations and paintings on Heidelberg Street where he was raised and where his mother still resides. Guyton says he believes that his art motivates people to think about their lives and their environment, and he shares this philosophy not only through his exhibits but also by teaching art to children in Detroit.

Guyton’s interest in art began during his childhood. As a member of the Artist in Residence program at Detroit’s Northern High School, he was introduced to nationally and internationally known artists. During this time, he began to know and appreciate abstract art as a powerful medium for expression.

“An American Show” presents Guyton’s American Flag Series, which focuses on the need to question assumptions about freedom, beauty and opportunity. The flags serve as a medium to inquire: “Where is the opportunity, for whom does it present itself and when will every human being have opportunity and equality in the place of self-imposed limitations and divisions?”

“My art is for all people,” said Guyton. “I just want to paint what I see and what I feel – a lot of the time, what I do. It’s not necessarily pretty; it’s real, real life, what I see.”

The exhibit will occupy the third and fourth floors of the Law College Building at Shaw Lane and Bogue Street on the MSU campus. The exhibit is open to the public.

MSU College of Law was founded as the Detroit College of Law in 1891 and was the first law school in Detroit. The college affiliated with MSU in 1995 and moved to MSU’s East Lansing campus in 1997. The move enabled the law college to build state-of-the-art facilities and to provide the benefits of a Big Ten campus while maintaining the culture of a small, private school. Today, the college remains the nation’s oldest continually operating independent law school.