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.

News

Seriously?: Comedy and Satire in Canadian Art 1970s-Now
Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, BC
January 25–May 18, 2025

Know
Bodenrader, Chicago, IL
April 12–May 17, 2025

Sixties Surreal
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
September 24, 2025–January 29, 2026


Exhibitions

William T. Wiley
Fables

Apr 26 – Jun 14, 2025

Nothing is to be Done for William T. Wiley

Jun 12 – Aug 6, 2022

Independent

May 5 – May 8, 2022

William T. Wiley
Real Eye on Change

Mar 1 – May 31, 2020

Miart

Apr 13 – Apr 15, 2018

William T. Wiley

Nov 12, 2017 – Jan 27, 2018

Store

Dilexi: A Gallery & Beyond

Hardcover
452 pages
11 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches (28.8 x 28.8 cm)
By Laura Whitcomb
With texts by Peter Frank, Jim Newman, Gene Youngblood, Jay Sanders and Antoine Thirion
Published by Label Curatorial
December 2021

$150

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

Perfect bound, 226 pages
11 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches (28.6 × 24.1 cm)
Texts by Joann Moser, John Yau, and John G. Hanhardt
University of California Press, 2009

Wiley Territory

80 pages
11 × 8 1/2 inches (27.9 × 21.6 cm)
Texts by Graham W.J. Beal and John Perreault
Design by Robert Jensen
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1979

Wizdumb: William T. Wiley

Spiral bound, 74 pages
10 × 8 inches (20.3 × 25.4 cm)
Text by Brenda Richardson
Design by Bruce Montgomery
Edition of 5000
University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, 1971


Press

September 27, 2021
Alta
Funk Art and the Pursuit of Authenticity
September 23, 2021
Square Cylinder
Mark Van Proyen on William T. Wiley
May 10, 2021
Artforum
Passages: William T. Wiley (1937–2021)
May 5, 2021
The New York Times
William T. Wiley, ‘Funk Artist’ Who Spurned Convention, Dies at 83
May 3, 2021
KQED
Remembering William T. Wiley, Bay Area Artist, Teacher and Notorious Punster
April 30, 2021
The Art Newspaper
William T. Wiley, a founder of the Bay Area Funk Art movement and influential art teacher, has died, aged 83
April 29, 2021
ARTnews
William T. Wiley, Influential Bay Area Funk Artist and Educator, Is Dead at 83
April 28, 2021
San Francisco Chronicle
William T. Wiley, multifaceted artist and educator integral to Bay Area art scene, dies at 83
March 21, 2020
Hyperallergic
William T. Wiley: The Power of Puns
April 2, 2019
Artforum
Humanly Possible: Dan Nadel on the Art of William T. Wiley
February 24, 2018
Contemporary Art Review LA
Hannah Greely and William T. Wiley at Parker Gallery
December 28, 2009
The New York Times
Art in Review: ‘What’s It All Mean’
December 8, 2009
The Wall Street Journal
William T. Wiley in Retrospect
January 1, 1970
Artforum
William T. Wiley and William Allan: Meditating at Fort Prank
January 1, 1968
Artnews
Metaphysical Funk Monk