William N. Copley's art is based on the traditions of Dada and Surrealism as well as American Pop Art. Beginning his own work in Los Angeles in the late 40’s, he left America for Paris in 1951. There he fell in with the Surrealists André Breton, Man Ray, and René Magritte, among others. In France his art flowered by combining a unique sense of irony with a joyousness of living in his paintings. He explained, "My life is a quest for the ridiculous image. The visual pun is the golden nugget that we seek." 

His was a decidedly American sensibility cross-pollinated with French decorative patterning that his fellow Surrealists adored. Copley became a painter who had so much of the instinct of a Chaplin or Buster Keaton, that by way of his art, a particular American flavor became part of the late Surrealist menu.

Copley moved to Key West in 1992 continuing to work until his death in 1996. His work was widely recognized during his life-time through many exhibitions in the US and abroad, and a variety of books published internationally.