William T. Wiley Art

Printed by Bud Shark in Boulder, CO Published by the Print Club of Cleveland, No. 75 Edition: 265 Lithograph in four colors on BFK Rives paper Signed, dated and inscribed...

ink on paper William T. Wiley is acknowledged as a founding father of the West Coast Funk Art movement, a regional movement most predominant in the Bay Area. Funk Art was an extension of the Beat Generation; the art that grew out of attitudes surrounding the rejection of materialism, liberation from censorship, opposition to military, and experimentation. Funk artists were committed to identifying with their works on a personal level; focusing on their own stories, emotions, and attitudes toward the current events and popular culture. The resulting works were absurd, humorous, vulgar, and confrontational. Although Wiley worked in painting, drawing, printmaking, film, and sculpture, his watercolors and ink drawings best depict Funk Art values. In the fall of 1967 Wiley found his way out of a brief period of artist’s block when he picked up watercolor, a medium that was not taken seriously in the high-art world. In effect, he demanded less of himself, which freed his imagination. The most surprising commentary occurs in Wiley’s seemingly modest watercolor efforts. Skillfully drawn and layered with puns and pop culture references often addressing serious topics, the watercolors are meant to not only be looked at, but also read. Frontier Looney Bin Detail #2 depicts the mysterious construction and destruction of a jumbled city; fragmented letters can be found throughout the composition spelling out an illegible message. At the bottom, Wiley wrote the title, and “for E.K.”, Ed Kienholz...