Roy De Forest and William T. Wiley: A Slow Time in Arcadia- Paintings, Drawings and Constructions, 1960-2002

During July and August, George Adams Gallery will present a survey of paintings, drawings, and constructions by Roy DeForest and William T. Wiley, two prominent Bay Area artists whose distinct oeuvres have addressed similar narrative and personal mythologies over the last forty years. The exhibition, which presents an overview of the artist's careers to date, will include paintings, drawings and constructions by both artists ranging in date from 1960 up to the present.

The earliest work in the show is an example of Wiley's early abstract expressionist style, Flag Song, painted in 1960.  Two of Wiley's constructions from the 1970s are also included in the show, the most elaborate of which is Hard Lesson for the Dunce (1977), which incorporates a tree stump, a carved wooden head, a spindly branch decorated with strung together metal lettering, and a chalkboard all accompanied by a watercolor of a dunce-capped log. In addition, there are several watercolors from the 1970s and two paintings, Modern Limits (1974) and I Visit Bob (1981) on display.

Roy DeForest is represented by three large paintings, the earliest of which, A Bird in the Hand (1965), shows traces of DeForest's involvement with abstract expressionism. Two later paintings, A Slow Time in Arcadia (1977) and Who Knows Man or Beast (1979), on the other hand, represent DeForest's characteristically colorful and textured fantasies. For example, A Slow Time in Arcadia, from which the exhibition derives its title, depicts frolicking wolf dogs in a mountainous terrain painted in bright reds, oranges, yellows, and blues. Other works in the exhibition include a rare relief construction from 1964, two new constructions from 2002, as well as several drawings in elaborate hand-made frames.

Exhibition Checklist
(clockwise from front desk)

1. William T. Wiley
Embers,1976
watercolor and ink on paper
30 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches
WTWd 13

2. Roy DeForest
Off the Patagonian Coast, 1962
mixed media, canvas, rope
30 x 30 x 6 inches
RDs 05

3. Roy DeForest
Texas, 2002
acrylic, mixed media, on masonite
44 x 39 x 10 1/2 inches
RDs 7

4. Roy DeForest
Who Knows, Man or Beast, 1979
varnished  acrylic polymer on canvas
73 x 84 1/2 inches
RDp 21

5. William T. Wiley
Hard Lesson for the Dunce, 1977
watercolor with mixed media construction
34 x 28 inches, dimensions variable
WTWs 3

6. William T. Wiley
Modern Limits, 1974-75
acrylic on canvas
64 x 86 inches
WTWp 11

7. William T. Wiley
Flag Song, 1959
oil on canvas
61 1/2 x 65 1/2 inches
WTWp 05

8. William T. Wiley
Certain Things No One Can Teach You, 1973
watercolor/mixed media on paper
22 1/4 x 33 inches
WTWd 12

9. William T. Wiley
Portrait of Bah!, 1971
watercolor and ink on paper with
mixed media constructions
30 1/2 x 23 inches; 11 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches;
45 x 6 inches
WTWd 15

10. William T. Wiley
I Visit Bob, 1981
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
43 x 45 inches
WTWp 10

11. Roy DeForest
A Slow Time in Arcadia, 1977
acrylic polymer on canvas
60 x 72 inches
RDp 22

12. Roy DeForest
A Bird in the Hand, 1965
polymer on canvas
72 x 60 inches
RDp 19

13. William T. Wiley
Thanking the Void
1979
acrylic, charcoal on canvas
27 x 42 inches
WTWp 12