drawing of a winking moon on an irregular sheet of paper

William T. Wiley, It's Only a Pay Per Moon (detail), 1974. Color lithograph on chamois with hand-coloring, Sheet: 1070 x 905 mm (42 1/8 x 35 5/8 in). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Hamilton-Wells Fund, NEA Acquisitions Fund, and the George M. Worthington Fund, 1978.1.179.

I Keep Foolin’ Around: William T. Wiley as Printmaker

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Bay Area artist William T. Wiley (b. 1937) is well known as a painter, sculptor, and draftsman whose imagery is infused with a lively blend of satiric wit, cultural commentary, and storytelling. I Keep Foolin’ Around focuses on his significant work in printmaking and features prints from the museum’s collection, including its William T. Wiley Print Archive and the Crown Point Press Archive.

Wiley’s first exposure to printmaking was during his student days but it wasn’t until he became acquainted with Landfall Press in Chicago in 1972 that his professional printmaking efforts began. Wiley has collaborated with presses throughout the United States including a number of those in the California Bay Area, exploring the artistic possibilities of lithography and various etching processes. Prints from the last decade show his interest in printmaking shows no sign of abating after three decades as he frequently returns to the process that allows him to “keep foolin’ around.”

Currently on view