William T. Wiley

(Bedford, Indiana, 1937 - )

North America, American

Robert Arneson and William T. Wiley have been good friends since the early 1960s, when they both taught art at the University of California-Davis. Their work epitomizes the funky, offbeat side of the California aesthetic, embracing deliberately absurd images, irony and humor. Arneson is best known for his amusing ceramic sculptures that often had underlying satirical messages, but works such as Nuke News prove he can also tackle weighty issues; the horrifying, skull-like bronze head expresses his feelings about nuclear weapons. Wiley's painting Weigh of the Spirit and Flesh is lighter, yet addresses equally universal issues.

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