1990s "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" Wood Panel Original Painting and Carving by Mickey "Kano" Kane

Details

Description

"You Have the Right to Remain Silent" Wood Panel Original Painting and Carving

Elaborate collage, painting and carved sculpture by … Read more "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" Wood Panel Original Painting and Carving

Elaborate collage, painting and carved sculpture by Mickey "Kano" Kane (American, 20th century). In You Have the Right to Remain Silent, outsider artist Mickey "Kano" Kane transforms a keyhole into a powerful metaphor for surveillance, power, and voicelessness. Quote lower center: "Perfection will never be compromised, negotiated nor voided as long as you Keep your hand in it" Framed in stark geometry, the spiral form embedded within the textured cavity evokes a spine or coiled tongue—anatomies of strength and speech—compressed and muted beneath layers of fibrous insulation. The title, lifted from the familiar Miranda warning, charges the piece with political and psychological weight. Kane’s use of discarded, utilitarian materials speaks to systemic neglect and social silencing, while the narrow corridor of the keyhole becomes a visual choke point: a passage too tight for expression, a doorway seen but not entered. With his signature satirical symbolism, Kane forces us to confront the thin line between protection and oppression—reminding us that silence, whether imposed or chosen, carries consequence.

Kano's work is outsider art - characterized by its creation outside the boundaries of mainstream art and often by self-taught or unconventional artists. Outsider art encompasses a diverse range of artists, including self-taught visionaries, psychiatric patients, and those outside the mainstream art world.

Titled, signed, and dated on verso:
"You Have the Right to Remain Silent" Kano 92
Panel size: 48"H x 72"W

Mickey “Kano” Kane (American, 1939-2002) was born in Illinois and grew up in Sacramento, CA. Kane moved to the Pacific Coast and worked on mixed media panels - which he would refer to as a “Totem” – and detailed collage compositions. His collage work is generally satirical or critical in nature, frequently dealing with themes of money, capitalism, government, power, and debt. By contrast, his “Totem” sculptural work is abstract and free of direct symbolism, focusing instead on the aesthetics of the composition.

Original Member, Artist’s Cooperative Gallery

Artist’s Statement:
The Totem is indicative of the unfolding 21st Century, graphically and metaphorically. It is neither one side nor the other, nor does one side challenge or compete with the other. Each side cooperates and thus enhances the other so that both "sides" transcend that definition into a composition revealing that, indeed, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Totem reflects the inner harmony that all sides, whether two or two thousand, are striving to manifest in their own inimitable way. See less