Press Release
This fall, the Shepherd presents Everlasting Life, a landmark solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed Detroit artist Tyree Guyton. Occupying the Shepherd’s indoor galleries and extending outdoors with the iconic Penny Car from Heidelberg Street, it marks one of the most significant presentations of Guyton’s work in decades.
Opening during the 40th anniversary year of the Heidelberg Project and following Guyton’s recognition as the 2026 Kresge Eminent Artist, Everlasting Life moves beyond the artist’s celebrated public works to explore the faith, memory, and inner life that have informed his practice from the beginning.
A centerpiece of the exhibition is the first U.S. presentation of Guyton’s works on paper created in Bern, Switzerland, during his 2012 residency in Basel. Largely unseen by American audiences for nearly fifteen years, these expressive monoprints reveal an artist working with remarkable immediacy and vulnerability.
The works are presented alongside new paintings and mixed-media pieces created specifically for Everlasting Life. Spanning time and place, they are united by an enduring question: What does it mean to live beyond what we can see?
“Tyree Guyton has many dimensions to his creative practice,” says curator Jenenne Whitfield. “The world knows Heidelberg Street, the monumental installations, and the bold assemblages. Everlasting Life invites audiences into the spiritual foundation that has always sustained that work. At this point in his career, it is important to broaden the conversation by revealing more fully the artist he has always been.”
The exhibition also features Guyton’s celebrated Faces—among the most recognizable images of his career—and culminates in a large-scale, site-specific floor installation that unifies the galleries into an immersive experience.
Reflecting on the exhibition, Guyton says: “Everlasting Life is a spiritual concept. We are all energy, and energy is never destroyed, it only changes form. I believe we have an unending existence that begins when we truly know who we are. I want people to leave surprised, but more importantly, I want them to leave thinking.”
“Tyree Guyton’s work has long challenged how we define art, place, and community,” says Anthony Curis, Partner at Library Street Collective. “Presenting Everlasting Life allows us to share a body of work that expands that conversation while honoring an artist whose influence continues to shape Detroit and resonate around the world.”
For more than four decades, Guyton has demonstrated art’s power to heal, challenge, and renew. Everlasting Life looks forward, presenting an artist who continues to expand his practice while remaining grounded in his belief in transformation.
“If Heidelberg Street asked us to reconsider the world around us, Everlasting Life asks us to reconsider the world within us,” says Whitfield.
The exhibition opens on September 24, 2026 from 6-8pm and will be on view through November 21, 2026. RSVP for the opening reception here.