William T. Wiley

Over a sixty-year career, William T. Wiley (b. 1937 in Bedford, IN, d. 2021 in Greenbrae, CA) has addressed some of the most urgent social, political and environmental issues with a distinctive blend of wit and wisdom. His work is densely layered with complex riddles, steeped in profound personal meaning. One of the most significant and influential artists associated with the Funk movement, Wiley has often defied art historical labels, charting a course entirely his own. Alongside Robert Arneson, Wayne Thiebaud and Roy De Forest, Wiley helped form one of the most experimental and widely revered art programs in the country at UC Davis, teaching there from 1962 to 1973. His work is included in the collections of UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Stedelijk van Abbemuseum; Walker Art Center; and Whitney Museum of American Art; among many others.