About the Gallery Artists Represented Exhibition Archives Gallery Home Marsha Mateyka Gallery Exhibition Archive William T. Wiley:    "It's All Making Scents" An Exhibition of New Paintings, Watercolors & Constructions November 3 - December 22, 2012 reception for the artist: Saturday, November 3, 4:00 - 6:00 pm Press Release

Paintings Robust Abstraction with Abandon School, 2012 acrylic and graphite on canvas, 61.75 x 74 inches Ethnic Abstraction with Zen Figure, 2012 acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 62 x 76 inches New Planet Winter Blues with Whack & Blite, 2011 acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 61 x 68 inches How Flowers Changed the World for Loren Eiseley & Us, 2012 acrylic and graphite on canvas, 61.25 x 68.25 inches That's Funny, You Sure Look Irish, 2012 acrylic on cardboard, 15.25 x 16 inches That Makes Since , 2012 acrylic on cardboard, 16.5 x 16.5 inches Watercolors               The Old New Dog Rail Press, 2012               watercolor & ink on paper,               30 x 22 inches detail                                                      Don't Vote to Forget, 2012                                        watercolor & ink on paper,                                        12 x 9 inches                                        Time Task, 2012                                        watercolor & ink on paper,                                        12 x 9 inches               It's Starting to Make Since, 2012               watercolor & ink on paper,               30 x 22 inches               Green Head, 2012               watercolor,               30 x 22 inches Constructions Green Head, 2012                                                                              (back view) construction, dimensions variable                                        Working With the Workmen 2, 2012                                        construction,                                        dimensions variable                                  Secret Tapes and Owl Eyes, 2012                                  construction,                                  dimensions variable

Available Works by William T. Wiley

Press Release The Marsha Mateyka Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of recent work by the celebrated, American artist, William T. Wiley.  Wiley’s work has been the subject of several solo museum exhibitions in Washington DC in recent years.  In 1991, the Corcoran Gallery of Art mounted an exhibition of his paintings and constructions- “Struck! Sure? Sound/Unsound” and later in 2005 an exhibition that focused on his prints- “Current Evince”.  The Smithsonian American Art Museum organized and presented a major career retrospective in 2009/2010-“What’s It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect”. Wiley’s work has always been a combination of painting and drawing, the abstract and figurative, social comment with humor and wordplay.   The four large recent paintings in the current exhibition are predominantly color fields – abstract patterns in the primary colors plus black and white.  Each retains the artist's signature juxtaposition of drawing in charcoal or graphite, directly on the raw canvas. The drawn block in the lower left corner of "New Planet Winter Blues with Whack & Blite" refers to the newly discovered planet.  The drawing at the bottom of “Ethnic Abstraction with Zen Figure" refers to a postcard that Wiley received from a friend.  "Robust Abstraction with Abandon School" includes in the lower right corner a drawing of a country school house along with Wiley’s question about education.  "How Flowers Changed the World for Loren Eiseley & Us” is inspired by the theory that flowers appeared at the same time everywhere on the planet.  It is in this painting that the artist first introduces green and brown into the color scheme. Also found throughout Wiley’s work is an affection for wordplay, especially evident in many of his titles.  "Time Task", the title of one of the small watercolors in this exhibition is also "time to ask" and features an hour glass drawn on an old fashioned, wood framed slate with the message "is it time t ask" and " & so how did (I) really get here & why?".  The exhibition includes several other new watercolors with the artist's characteristic layering of meaning, both serious and humorous; including the intimate, four-part “See Quartet” that reflects Wiley’s observations of the ocean off the Marin Coast. Wiley's serious side is often tempered in his light hearted constructions.  Three new constructions in this current exhibition are pure whimsy – made from nonart materials, literally stuff lying around the studio.  One construction is an owl's head made of masking tape sitting on a discarded wooden carved pillar, titled “Secret tapes and Owl’s eyes”.  Another consists of discarded cable used by Wiley to create a drawing in space suspended from a hand blown glass musical cleft, titled “Working with the Workmen”.  This construction and another, titled “Green Head” both appear in an adjacent watercolor of Wiley’s studio. The Marsha Mateyka Gallery has shown the works of William T. Wiley since 1987.  In Washington DC, his works are in the collections of The National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Corcoran and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

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