What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect

Smithsonian American Art Museum, October 2, 2009 - January 24, 2010

Description

William T. Wiley retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

"Enter the world of artist William Wiley, whose self-deprecating humor and sense of the absurd make his art accessible in spite of his many private symbols, allusions, narratives, and layers of meaning. Wiley's art has stood the test of time in the face of changing styles, successive movements, critical theories, and passing fashion. This retrospective, which features eighty-eight works from the 1960s to the present, is the first full-scale look at Wiley's career since 1979 and explores important themes and ideas expressed in his work. Wordplay and wit disguise Wiley's serious commentary on war, pollution, global warming, racial tensions, and other threats to contemporary civilization."

-from SAAM website

Images

Meridian Moons Overwhatarewe 2006 Mixed media on canvas 61 1/4 x 84 3/4 inches