Arts & Entertainment
What Is Art For? Exhibition
Annual Artists of MarinMOCA Exhibition honors the legacy of William T. Wiley, legendary Novato-based artist.
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art
500 Palm Drive, Novato, CA 94949
Hours: Wed-Fri, 11am - 4pm and Sat-Sun, 11am - 5pm
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What Is Art For? opens on Saturday, February 5, 2022, and features over 90 works created by MarinMOCA’s artist member community. The exhibition theme is inspired by William T. Wiley and Mary Hull Webster’s 1999 Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) exhibition of the same name and pays tribute to the late Wiley, who passed away in Novato earlier this year, and is one of the Bay Area’s most legendary artists hailing from Marin County.
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The original OMCA show What Is Art For? William T. Wiley and Mary Hull Webster and 100 Artists resulted from Wiley’s own invitation for a solo exhibition at the esteemed museum. Declining the opportunity, he instead turned the offer into a platform to showcase the breadth of art being produced across the region. The show was notable for its emphasis on community, collaboration, inclusivity, and democratization of the gallery space by presenting both famous and unknown artists on a level playing field. This open-ended exhibition model provides an apt jumping off point for the diverse voices of MarinMOCA’s artist community to reflect on the exhibition’s prompt as well as Wiley’s own legacy as an artist who defied categorization, charting a course entirely his own.
Wiley developed a unique visual vocabulary that combined his lifelong interests in liberal social and environmental concerns as well as philosophy and mysticism. His hallmark text and wordplay infuse his varied body of work with humorous puns, sarcasm, and double entendre to critique many of the most urgent issues of our time. A small group of works by Wiley will accompany the exhibition that highlight the artist’s distinctive blend of wit and wisdom and resonate with the range of voices on view from our artist member community.
What Is Art For? Invites both artist and viewer to consider, and reflect on, the role that art plays in our lives. Spanning all galleries this engaging exhibition includes work in a variety of media and genres. Art can inspire conversation, educate, document our world, stimulate our imaginations, or simply provide solace in disturbing times. We encourage visitors of all ages to enjoy this provocative exhibition on view from February 5, through March 20, 2022. Curator and writer Renny Pritikin will jury the awards.
