Feeding Time, William T. Wiley

Archive Label 2003: A highly influential teacher based on the West Coast, William Wiley incorporates a child-like sense of smallness into his large-scale drawings and paintings. Works such as this one seem like puzzles, perplexing us through the use of verbal and visual puns. Wiley’s prolific output has included sculpture, printmaking, constructions, conceptual art, painting, collaborative drawing, film, poetry, and performance art. Exhibition Label: "Dreams and Portals," Jun-2008, Kris Ercums and Susan Earle Intro Label: This summer display features selections from the Spencer’s permanent collection, including works that may evoke dreams and ideas of place, near and far. The works range in media from painting and watercolor to collage, textile, and video. Some may transport you to other places, such as the lyrical "Blue Door (La Porte Bleue)" by French artist Pierre Lesieur. Reflecting the artist’s travels to North Africa, this painting evokes the sea or an open door in a way that suggests a dream, or a portal. Many works feature abstract imagery, at times suggestive of dreams, or passages to other landscapes, be they of the mind or actual places. Others combine abstraction and figuration, like the William T. Wiley drawing "Feeding Time." Others teeter between realism and abstraction, such as "Foam Chrome II" by Gary Pruner. A portal can be defined as a door or gate or entrance, especially a grand or imposing one. Paintings themselves are like portals. They allow us to enter worlds and spaces like nothing else can. Let your mind wander and see what dreams you might recall, or what new perspectives you might gain. Label: An influential teacher based on the West Coast, William Wiley incorporates a childlike sense of smallness into his large-scale drawings and paintings. Works such as this one seem like puzzles, perplexing us through the use of verbal and visual puns. The space seems dreamlike and suggests an entry to somewhere else. Wiley’s prolific output has included sculpture, printmaking, constructions, conceptual art, painting, collaborative drawing, film and video, poetry, songwriting, and performance art.