SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Iconic California artist William T. Wiley died on April 25th at age 83. He had long battled Parkinson’s disease. Joann Moser, curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, wrote in a 2009 retrospective catalogue, “Wiley has created a body of work that anticipated such important developments as installation art, audience participation, a revival of interest in drawing, as well as the use of humor and language as significant aspects of contemporary art.”

For nearly sixty years, Wiley (who was referred to by this single-word moniker by his family, friends and professionally) distinguished himself as a renegade American artist whose interests were rooted in liberal social, political and environmental concerns as well as philosophy and spirituality. Though frequently political, his work adamantly resists classification into movements or stylistic trends. Wiley’s practice ranged from drawing, painting in watercolor and acrylic, sculpture, and assemblage to printmaking, filmmaking and performance. Combining found objects, personal symbols, enigmatic texts and references to art history, popular culture, and current events, he developed a distinctive visual vocabulary that allowed for variety, invention, and his own subtle mysticism.

But the defining hallmark of Wiley's work is the text and wordplay that accompany nearly every piece he made. From stream-of-consciousness rambles to pointed critiques, he used humor, puns, sarcasm and double entendres to address the most consequential issues of our time.

Born in Bedford, Indiana in 1937, Wiley moved frequently with his family (his father was a construction foreman) before settling in the cold-war boomtown of Richland, Washington— home to the Hanford Nuclear Reserve and the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor. Wiley was inspired by a maverick high school art teacher, James McGrath, to pursue a career as an artist and received a full-ride scholarship to the California School of the Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute), which he attended with high school friends Robert Hudson and William Allan. He was quickly recognized as a unique voice and his work was exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before he finished his undergraduate degree.




In 1960, Wiley’s work was included in The Whitney Museum’s “Young America” show, then again in “Fifty California Artists” in 1962, and in Whitney Annual exhibitions in 1967, 1968, and the 1983 Biennial. Other museum exhibitions include MoMA (New York); SFMoMA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; LACMA; Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington DC); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and many other museums in America and Europe. His work was included in Documenta V in Kassel, Germany in 1972 and the Venice Biennales in 1972 and 1980.

In 1963, at the age of 26, Wiley was hired to teach at the newly formed art department at the University of California, Davis. He and fellow artists Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest and Manuel Neri transformed what was known only as an agricultural college into one of the leading art schools in America. Among Wiley’s students were Deborah Butterfield, Richard Shaw, and Bruce Nauman, with whom Wiley collaborated with on various projects. Wiley retired from teaching in 1973 but continued to be a guest lecturer and visiting professor at many art schools and universities throughout the U.S.

In 1982, Wiley was the subject of his first retrospective, "Wiley Territory," curated by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, which toured to the Dallas Art Museum, The Denver Art Museum, Des Moines Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Phoenix Art Museum. In 2009, the Smithsonian American Art Museum organized the major retrospective, “What’s It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect,” which traveled to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

In 1999, Wiley and his wife, artist Mary Hull Webster, curated the show “What is Art For?” at the Oakland Museum of Art. In addition to his solo art practice, Wiley collaborated with other artists throughout his career, including composer Steve Reich; artists Bruce Nauman, Richard Shaw, William Allan, and Robert Hudson; musician/artists Terry Allen and Mike Henderson; poet Michael Hannon; filmmaker Robert Nelson; and most recently with German composer Efdemen (aka Phillip Sollmann) in 2019.

Wiley was first represented by Hansen Fuller Gallery in San Francisco (Wanda Hansen would remain his manager for many years) and Frumkin Gallery in New York. He was later shown by LA Louver in Los Angeles, Max Protetch Gallery in New York, and Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. He is currently represented by Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco and Parker Gallery in Los Angeles. Future exhibits include a solo show at Hosfelt Gallery in October 2021, and a retrospective curated by Dan Nadel, “William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line,” at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, UC Davis, in January 2022.

Wiley is survived by his wife Mary Hull Webster, sons Ethan and Zane, grandchildren Jasper, Sophia, Quinn and Raquel, and the mother of his two children, filmmaker Dorothy Wiley.