{{Short description|American artist (1937–2021)}} {{Infobox artist | image = William T Wiley in San Francisco, 2006, photograph by Sally Larsen-crop.jpg | name = William Thomas Wiley | imagesize = | caption = Wiley in San Francisco (2006) | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|10|21|mf=y}} | birth_place = Bedford, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|4|25|1937|10|21}} | death_place = Greenbrae, California, US | field = drawing, painting, sculpture, film, and performance | training = California School of Fine Arts | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = Purchase Prize from the Whitney Museum of American Art 1968. Honorary Doctorate at San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California 1980. 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. }} [[File:Fan for the A.M. by William T. Wiley, 1984, Honolulu Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|right|400px|''Fan for the A.M.'' by '''William T. Wiley''', 1984, acrylic paint and colored pencil on canvas, Honolulu Museum of Art]] [[File:The Great Blondino poster.jpg|thumb|''The Great Blondino'' (1967)]]
'''William Thomas Wiley''' (October 21, 1937{{spnd}}April 25, 2021) was an American artist. His work spanned a broad range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, performance, and pinball. At least some of Wiley's work has been referred to as funk art.<ref>Artspeak, by Robert Atkins, 1990, {{ISBN|1-55859-127-3}}</ref>
==Early life and education== William Thomas Wiley was born on October 21, 1937, in Bedford, Indiana.<ref name=":0" /> He was raised in Indiana, Texas, and in Richland, Washington.
Wiley moved to San Francisco in the 1950s to study at the California School of Fine Arts (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute); where he earned his BFA degree in 1960 and his MFA degree two years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfai.edu/People/Person.aspx?id=267&navID=6§ionID=2&typeID=1|title=William Wiley - San Francisco Art Institute<!-- Bot generated title -->|publisher=}}</ref> Wiley was classmates with Robert Hudson.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2018-09-21 |title=Robert Hudson |url=https://art.famsf.org/robert-hudson |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=FAMSF Search the Collections |language=en}}</ref>
== Career == In 1963, Wiley joined the faculty of the University of California, Davis (U.C. Davis) art department with Bay Area Funk Movement artists Robert Arneson and Roy DeForest. During that time Wiley instructed students including Bruce Nauman, Deborah Butterfield, Stephen Laub,<ref>[http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2007/07/art-space-talk-william-t-wiley.html myartspace>blog: Art Space Talk: William T. Wiley<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and Christopher Brown.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Landauer|first1=Susan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_AW4IYLq3AC|title=The Not-So-Still Life: A Century of California Painting and Sculpture|last2=Gerdts|first2=William H.|last3=Trenton|first3=Patricia|date=2003-11-10|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-23938-8|page=187|language=en}}</ref> According to Dan Graham, the literary, punning element of Nauman's work came from Wiley.<ref>Dan Graham, Alexander Alberro, ''Two-Way Mirror Power: Selected Writings by Dan Graham on His Art'', MIT Press, 1999, p112. {{ISBN|0-262-57130-7}}</ref> Wiley also acknowledged the effect Nauman had on his own work.<ref>Wiley quoted by Paul J. Karlstrom in Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein, Ilene Susan Fort, ''Reading California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000'', University of California Press, 2000, p100. {{ISBN|0-520-22767-0}}</ref>
His first solo exhibition was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1960. In the late 1960s Wiley collaborated with the minimalist composer Steve Reich and introduced him to Bruce Nauman.<ref>Robert C. Morgan, ''Bruce Nauman'', JHU Press, 2002, p61. {{ISBN|0-8018-6906-4}}</ref>
Wiley continued to build upon his growing stature as a major artist with works appearing in the Venice Biennial (1980) and Whitney Biennial (1983). He also had major exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1981), M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco (1996), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2005).<ref name="williamtwiley.com">{{cite web|title=William T. Wiley Official Website|url=http://www.williamtwiley.com/|website=www.williamtwiley.com}}</ref>
Starting in the 1980s, Wiley frequently collaborated with Lippincott Sculpture <ref>{{cite web | title=Lippincott Sculpture |url=https://www.lippincottsculpture.com/}}</ref> to create a variety of metal fabricated artworks, including the gigantic eight story "The Tower of the No Bull Salvage",<ref>{{cite web|title=The Tower of the No Bull Salvage |url=https://www.lippincottsculpture.com/william-t--wiley---tower-of-the-no-bull-salvage/the-tower-of-the-no-bull-salvage<}}</ref> "Gong", acquired by the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, and "Harp", part of the collection of the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa, California.
In 2009, the Smithsonian American Art Museum presented a retrospective of Wiley's career titled ''What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect'', from October 2, 2009, through January 24, 2010. A review in ''The Wall Street Journal'' stated: "Mr. Wiley's work is unlike any other in recent art... He is less a contemporary artist than a national treasure."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/wiley|title=What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703683804574532482514890604|title=He's Wiley, And Witty|first=Sidney|last=Lawrence|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=9 December 2009|publisher=|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref>
In 2010, the retrospective moved to the Berkeley Art Museum, from March 17 to July 18. The catalogue for the retrospective, "What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect", was co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and University of California Press. In 2017, Wiley was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Bivins Gallery in Dallas, Texas, ''William T. Wiley: Where the Rub Her Meats the Rode.''
In addition to his extensive work as a painter and sculptor, Wiley was a dedicated printmaker, working with Landfall Press, Crown Point Press,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://crownpoint.com/artist/william-t-wiley/ |title=Crown Point Press|website=Crown Point Press}}</ref> Cirrus Editions, Magnolia Editions,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.magnoliaeditions.com/ |title=Magnolia Editions|website=Magnolia Editions}}</ref> Electric Works, Trillium Press, Shark's Ink, and other printmaking companies. He also created several limited edition art books in collaboration with Arion Press where he created art for "Godot", an imaginary staging of "Waiting For Godot", and "Don Quixote, Books I and II by Miguel de Cervantes"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arionpress.com/catalogue/ |title=Arion Press|website=Arion Press}}</ref>
In 2019, Hosfelt Gallery presented ''William T. Wiley: Sculpture, Eyes Wear Tug Odd'', which emphasized Wiley's sculptures and constructions and their relationship to his work in other mediums. In a review for Square Cylinder, David M. Roth wrote, "In all, there are 40 pieces in the show, all of them worthy of sustained contemplation and discussion. I visited the exhibition twice, and each time I left the gallery feeling as if my head were about to explode, so dense is the imagery and text contained in these works. It borders on horror vacui. Given the madness engulfing us, that approach seems right. Wiley's art, always extraordinarily prescient, now feels more relevant than ever."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.squarecylinder.com/2019/04/william-t-wiley-hosfelt-3/ |title=William T. Wiley @ Hosfelt|website=Square Cylinder}}</ref>
Wiley's first post-humous exhibition was "Monumental" at the Hosfelt Gallery in October 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.squarecylinder.com/2021/09/mark-van-proyen-on-william-t-wiley/ |title=Mark Van Proyen on William T. Wiley|website=Square Cylinder}}</ref>
In 2025, in addition to gallery exhibits at Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, Wiley's painting, "Shark's Dream", from the Whitney Museum's collection, was featured in the Whitney exhibition, "Sixties Surreal"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/sixties-surreal-whitney-museum-art-review.html |title=Making the '60s Weird Again |website=Vulture}}</ref>
Also a singer and musician, Wiley collaborated with German composer Efdemin aka Phillip Sollmann, performing vocals on "Oh, Lovely Appearance of Death" for the 2019 album ''New Atlantic'' on the Ostgut Ton label.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ostgut Ton Bandcamp page|url=https://ostgut.bandcamp.com/}}</ref> ''Fact'' described the project as "inspired by Francis Bacon's 17th century utopian novel of the same name and according to the label 'oscillates between fast, kaleidoscopic techno, multilayered drones and acoustic instrumentation', incorporating the sounds of Sollmann's dance floor-oriented productions as Efdemin and his more experimental work."<ref>{{cite web|title=Efdemin explores utopian musical traditions on New Atlantis|date=11 December 2018|url=https://www.factmag.com/2018/12/11/efdemin-new-atlantis-ostgut-ton/}}</ref>
Wiley died on April 25, 2021, in a hospital in Greenbrae, California, due to complications of Parkinson's disease.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Solomon|first=Deborah|date=2021-05-05|title=William T. Wiley, 'Funk Artist' Who Spurned Convention, Dies at 83|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/arts/william-t-wiley-dead.html|access-date=2021-05-06|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Awards== Wiley received the Australian Arts Council traveling grant in 1980, the Guggenheim Fellowship Award in 2004, a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 from the Southern Graphics International Conference, and Honorary Membership in the California Society of Printmakers in 2009.
==Collections== Wiley is known for paintings that incorporate sketch-like drawings and handwritten notations.<ref>Honolulu Museum of Art, wall label, ''Fan for the A.M.'', accession 2017-31-1</ref> ''Fan for the A.M.'', in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art, demonstrates the artist's technique. It consists of areas of bright acrylic paint surrounded by drawings and writing in colored pencil.
Other public collections holding Wiley's work include the Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Collection|url=http://www.dirosaart.org/about/the-collection/|website=dirosaart.org|date=16 June 2010|access-date=2016-11-03}}</ref> Art Institute of Chicago,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.artic.edu/collection?q=william%20wiley|title = Discover Art & Artists| newspaper=Art Institute of Chicago }}</ref> the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/171935|title = Taking Liberties | LACMA Collections}}</ref> Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Corcoran Gallery of Art, New Britain Museum of American Art, Hirshhorn Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/people/6013/william-t-wiley|title = William T. Wiley – Artists/Makers – the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art}}</ref> Philadelphia Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, Netherlands) Walker Art Center, and Whitney Museum of American Art.
Wiley was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship Award in 2004.
==References== {{reflist}}https://www.vulture.com/article/sixties-surreal-whitney-museum-art-review.html
==Further reading== * Joann Moser with John Yau and John G. Hanhardt; ''WHAT'S IT ALL MEAN, WILLIAM T. WILEY, IN RETROSPECT''; Smithsonian American Art Museum, University of California Press, Berkeley 2009; {{ISBN|978-0-520-26120-4}}
==External links== * [http://www.williamtwiley.com Official website] * [https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/wiley] "What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley (Smithsonian Retrospective, 2009) * [https://whitney.org/artists/1422] Whitney Museum collection of William T. Wiley artworks * [https://mcachicago.org/about/who-we-are/people/william-t-wiley] Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) collection of William T. Wiley artworks * [https://www.nga.gov/artists/6046-william-t-wiley] National Gallery of Art collection of William T. Wiley artworks * [https://www.famsf.org/search?q=william%20t.%20wiley&type=artworks] Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco collection of William T. Wiley artworks, including extensive print collection * [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/arts/william-t-wiley-dead.html] NY Times obituary * [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-william-t-wiley-12900] Smithsonian Archives of American Art interview * [http://www.hosfeltgallery.com] Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA * [http://www.samparkergallery.com] Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * [https://www.artforum.com/print/201904/dan-nadel-on-the-art-of-william-t-wiley-78966] April 2019 Artforum article on William T. Wiley * [https://www.squarecylinder.com/2019/04/william-t-wiley-hosfelt-3/] Square Cylinder review of Hosfelt Gallery show in 2019 * [http://www.kqed.org/arts/places/profile.jsp?id=15046 On KQED's Spark program] * [http://webcast.ucdavis.edu/ART/2007/YouSee.qtl YOU SEE Panel discussion] with Manuel Neri and Wayne Thiebaud * [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/arts/design/29wiley.html In Case You Missed the Revolution, Man] New York Times review of Wiley's 2009-2010 Smithsonian American Art Museum show. * [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703683804574532482514890604 He's Wily, And Witty] Wall Street Journal of Wiley's 2009-2010 Smithsonian American Art Museum show. * [https://mailings.artlogic.net/readonline/c963561a90a74084b8d723447808ffe0] Art Logic, HG Magazine, Issue no. 30 * [https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/02/archives/the-slant-step.html] The Slant Step (NY Times, June 2, 1968 article) * [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-slant-step-mystery-solved-20140609-column.html] "Has art's Slant Step mystery finally been solved?" (LA Times, June 9, 2014) * [https://www.kqed.org/arts/13866725/slant-step-forward-verge-center-for-the-arts-review] 50 Years Later, the Enigmantic 'Slant Step' Continues to Pose as a muse", KQED * [https://dnadel.com/portfolio/william-t-wiley-and-the-slant-step-all-on-the-line/] Shrem Manetti exhibition: "William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line", Dan Nadel, curator * [https://manettishremmuseum.ucdavis.edu/tribute-william-t-wiley] A Tribute to William T. Wiley (Jan Shrem and Maria Manettie Shrem Museum of Art) * [https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/William_T._Wiley/] SFMOMA collection of William T. Wiley artworks
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiley, William T.}} Category:1937 births Category:2021 deaths Category:American conceptual artists Category:American contemporary artists Category:American printmakers Category:Artists from Indiana Category:American postmodern artists Category:People from Bedford, Indiana Category:San Francisco Art Institute alumni Category:Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Funk art movement artists