Ed Moses

Ed Moses (1926–2018) was a pivotal figure in the Post-War West Coast movement, known for his painterly abstraction, rejection of representational form and restless experimentation with materials and processes. From monochromes and diagonal grids to saturated fields, his evolving practice embodied a continuous investigation into the language of painting.

Calling himself a “mutator,” Moses was drawn to transitional states—whether in nature, thought, or materials. For example, he would often involve repetition and explore layering to create works that shift as the viewer moves. His work was informed by Buddhist philosophy, the open expanse of his Venice studio, and his daily, almost ritualistic engagement with painting.

Often using tools such as mops, rubber scrapers, and hoses, he challenged conventional techniques. One can note how his frequent gestural application of paint embraces impermanence, intuition, and chance.

Moses was part of the first generation of artists to exhibit at L.A.’s Ferus Gallery in the late 1950s, becoming a core member of the “Cool School,” alongside figures like Ed Ruscha, Robert Irwin, and Larry Bell. His work has been exhibited worldwide with major retrospectives in MOCA Los Angeles in 1996 and The University of California Irvine in 2014. Other prominent collections include, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Whitney Museum of American art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

“Painting is like discovery, trying this, trying that, bending this, twirling that, and then every once in a while it goes bing!” – Ed Moses