William T. Wiley
Caught in the Rap Sure
September 1 - October 14, 2006Statement
WILLIAM T. WILEY
Caught in the Rap Sure
September 1-October 14, 2006
John Berggruen Gallery is pleased to present its first solo exhibition of recent paintings, drawings, and sculpture by William T. Wiley. The reception for the artist will be on Thursday, September 7th from 5:30-7:30pm.
William T. Wiley's works are rich with texts that suggest narrative complexity interspersed with humorous asides. They frequently incorporate a figurative style that refers directly to famous artists of the past. Wiley's early work was influenced by Abstract Expressionism, and especially by Clyfford Still. By the early 1970s, however, he had begun to make very vibrant, obsessive paintings, prints, and drawings that combined motifs of pattern-making and text with his own unique eccentric energy. Wiley developed a painterly language that while sometimes abstract, frequently contained references to diverse sources of inspiration, running the gamut from Jungian imagery to Zen Buddhism, from environmental concerns to art history. He uses current political and social issues to comment on life in our time. His stunning draftsmanship and love of language are combined in paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture.
William T Wiley was born in Bedford, Indiana in 1937. He studied at the San Francisco Art Institute where he completed a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1960 and a Masters of Fine Arts in 1962. Since completing his studies in San Francisco, he has taught at the University of California at Davis and appeared regularly in individual and group shows on a national and international level, including major exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial and Venice Biennale. He is represented in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Los Angeles County Museum, The Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands and numerous others.
In 2008, a traveling retrospective of Wiley's prints will be on exhibit at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco de Young Museum and the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu with accompanying Catalogue Raisonné; William T. Wiley: Retrospective, a traveling exhibition with catalogue, will be on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2009.
Artists
William T. Wiley
Exhibition News
What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect, Smithsonian American Art Museum, October 2, 2009 - January 24, 2010 -
Exhibition Publications
William T. Wiley: Selections from Two Exhibitions, William T. Wiley
Exhibition Works
Until Further Notices 2006 acrylic and charcoal on canvas 59 3/4 x 83 3/4 inches
Meridian Moons Overwhatarewe 2006 acrylic and charcoal on canvas 60 1/4 x 85 1/2 inches
Color Barrier 2006 acrylic and charcoal on canvas 60 1/4 x 79 1/4 inches
Time for a Little T&R 2006 acrylic and charcoal on canvas 59 1/2 x 71 inches
Abstracting the Raven with Current Evince 2005 acrylic and charcaol on canvas 60 3/4 x 75 3/4 inches
A.W.O.L. in the Middle Leased 2006 acrylic and charcoal on canvas 59 1/2 x 75 1/2 inches
In Neptune's Glacier 2006 mixed media on canvas 59 x 73 7/8 inches
Pole, locks, aquiver, with dark energy 2006 mixed media 84 x 15 x 20 1/2 inches
Recovering Ecnuds 2006 watercolor & ink on paper 12 1/8 x 9 inches
The Long Journey 2006 pigment print with handwork 38 x 33 inches
Time Eater 2006 mixed media on canvas 61 1/2 x 98 1/2 inches
Wild Turkey & the Bridge Defiant 2005 water color, mixed media in two parts 18 x 24 inches
No Fault Insurance 2005 watercolor on paper 22 x 30 inches
The Furor Over the Truth 2005 watercolor on paper and mixed media in two parts 18 x 24 inches