William T. Wiley: Cosmic Jokester
Dive into the wild world of a truly inventive artist. Also: shop update!
While reading the ICA Philadelphia publication Ree Morton: The Plant That Heals May Also Poison, I came across the work of William T. Wiley (1937-2021) for the first time. A founder of the funk movement and a key player in the San Francisco Bay Area art scene, he intentionally eschewed categorization. Wiley worked across media and tackled a variety of issues, all with the sly humor of someone tapping into their innate cosmic knowledge. His world is a kaleidoscope of continental collisions and reoccurring symbols, such as hourglasses, Dunce caps, rulers, ampersands, & globes. I’ve been feeling so inspired by his art and worldview lately, so I thought I’d write through some of my wildest Wiley thoughts.
2-D Works
Despite having spent nine years in New York looking at art on a daily basis, I never encountered Wiley’s work in person until this past year. I was on an article assignment for DARIA Magazine and saw one of his woodcuts at the University of Boulder Art Museum. Since I hadn’t been aware that Wiley was included in the show, encountering the monumental artist’s proof felt fated in a Moby Dick epic journey kind of way.
The artist’s proof of Leviathan II (1992) by William T. Wiley simmers in frenetic limbo. Symbols somewhere between a censored swear word and a computer generated password are hacked into the bottom right corner where a city sun rises under a looming sea creature. -From my article
Wiley frequently inserts black and white scale bars, typically used on maps to convert distance measurements, into his artworks. He erects these scale bars as three dimensional objects, visually grounding his sprawling compositions.
Bury Your Barrier (2006) fuses two potentially incongruent mark-making styles to reimagine the landscape genre. The plywood box barrier in the foreground rises out of undulating charcoal lines. A close look reveals that the woodgrain also sprouts aquatic plants, transforming the plywood box into a geometric river. His ability to expose the mundane surrealism of plywood gets me every time. Beyond the box, Wiley pushes acrylic paint around to mold a juicy impressionistic landscape scene. With no clear delineation of forms, we are invited to roam through a dense psychedelic forest.
In middle school I was assigned a Social Studies project which involved inventing our dream country and creating the map for it (imagine: Fruitopia…a vaguely pear-shaped island). Wiley’s invented maps function as the main cornerstone of his work; his yellowed drawings hold a seemingly infinite combination of symbols, objects, and allegorical figures. In this piece alone, he includes: ruler, bones, knife, hands, saw, umbrella, dollar sign, sword, fire, chair, dunce, book, top hat, candle, smiley face, hammer, fire, pipe. And those are just the ones I can identify at first glance! The philosophical brain dumps also offer context for his sculptural pieces.
Sculpture
As a lifelong sculpturehead, I love when artists known for their two dimensional work have a lesser known sculptural practice. Picasso should have focused on sculpture, imho. Wiley used sticks, strings, wood chunks, fabric scraps, and probably even his daily chewed gum (pure speculation, but it does fall under the “mixed media” umbrella) to compose his ad hoc constructions.
Ship’s Log (1969) feels like stumbling into an inventor’s abandoned workshop; it’s a sculpture eternally in progress. The correct application of tension might suddenly animate the various ropes and bands of materials into a sailing apparatus. This piece actually predates my favorite Robert Rauschenberg series, Jammers, by about six years. Both Rauschenberg and Wiley were inspired by the material and structural elements of ships, deconstructing them into idiosyncratic sculptures.
Atomic theory has been simmering in my mind lately (even Pre-Barbenheimer!) and my first instinct is to view Wiley’s Indestructible Objekt (2006) as a model for the universe. Swirling twigs and twisted wires mimic the energetic lassoing of a practiced cowboy herding all known matter into his orbit. The drawn metronome on the painter’s palette keeps the cosmic rhythm. I’m dying to see this piece in person!
Le Grande Frommage (1985) is a more minimalistic turn for Wiley, but the hammer, cheese, and mouse sculpture perfectly displays his comedic genius. To be quite honest, the spiraled twig hammer handle leaves me at a loss for words.
Personal Style
With a last name like Wiley, this guy was destined to have an iconic sense of personal style. I love that he expressed his love for Western lore in what he chose to wear, favoring the classic cowboy penchant for button-up shirts tucked into belted jeans.
The morose wandering soul of Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas meets Sam Elliott’s mustachioed mischief. I would have loved to see Wiley in an indie Western film.
He balances his bold facial hair (plus a comb-over mullet?!) with statement accessories, like the suede tailored vest and pistol belt buckle. Symbols from his artwork make guest appearances in his outfits. In the more formal look below, he rocks an enviable turquoise bolo tie with dangling sterling silver SKULLS.
The look is clean and confident with rebellious undertones; Wiley was truly an artist who walked the talk. I’m also curious to know what his division symbol pin means, any leads out there? (Shoutout to his friend’s knitted red cap! The coolest kind of Papa Smurf Realness.)
Books
Wiley did not relax his vision when it came to book designs either. I only have one book about his work so far, a wonderfully tactile spiral bound notebook called WIZDUMB, which sports a faux leather embossed cover. The inside cover pages are flocked with GOLD VELVET. A man after my own heart.
Some of his other publications play on the objecthood of a book, appearing as props that might exist within one of his drawings. In Art Rule Book (1983), two quasi-wizard figures—who are most likely wearing Dunce caps, a frequent object in Wiley’s toolbox— ensnare an art rule book between two wooden palettes. Forget the rules, go forth and create!
Like an LSD-enlightened Albrecht Dürer, Wiley blew the bugle horn for people to break the illusion of mental and physical boundaries. His work is an example of art at its finest, inspiring us to revel in and laugh at all the messy joys & sorrows of life.
Update: Works for Sale!
In other news, I’ve updated my shop with more ceramic cigarette butts and some ~super rare~ functional wares!
Thanks for being here ;-)