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MOSES@100 ED MOSES: A CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION

WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY

MOSES@100

MOSES@100

MOSES@100 William Turner Gallery is pleased to present Moses@100, an exhibition celebrating the centennial year of Ed Moses’ birth. Bringing together a focused selection of works spanning six decades, the exhibition highlights the restless experimentation, intellectual curiosity, and continual reinvention that defined one of the most influential artists of postwar American art.

Moses@100 offers an opportunity to reconsider the enduring relevance of a practice rooted in experimentation, intuition, and constant renewal. At a moment when contemporary painting evinces renewed interest in process and materiality, Moses’ work remains remarkably vital: a testament to an artist who never stopped searching.

Photographed by gallery director Rob Brander in 2016

Born in Long Beach, California, in 1926, Moses served as a surgical technician during World War II before enrolling at UCLA, where an unexpected encounter with painting altered the course of his life. While still a graduate student, he joined the legendary Ferus Gallery circle, becoming one of the artists who helped establish Los Angeles as a vital center for contemporary art alongside Robert Irwin, Billy Al Bengston, Larry Bell, Craig Kauffman, Ken Price, Ed Ruscha, John Altoon, Wallace Berman, Edward Kienholz, and others.

Moses often referred to himself as a “mutator,” driven less by self-expression than by an insatiable curiosity to discover. Never content to remain within a singular visual language, he moved freely between radically different painterly investigations, each exploring a new visual language. The titles he gave these series—Roses, Wedges, Grids, Jabberwockys, Edges, Magmas, Waterfalls, and Crackles, among many others—offer a glimpse into the remarkable breadth of his imagination. His refusal to settle into a recognizable signature style became one of the defining characteristics of both his work and his legacy.

A Buddhist practitioner since the 1970s, Moses viewed painting as both a metaphysical and experiential act, remarking that “the point is not to be in control, but to be in tune.” Preferring the descriptions “painter” or “mark maker” to that of “artist,” he believed paintings should be evidence of a journey rather than manifestations of a preconceived idea.

His influence extended well beyond the studio. Architect Frank Gehry, one of Moses’ closest friends, reflected on the artist’s impact: “He opened a lot of doors for me, doors of thinking, to a way of looking at life, of thinking about work and creativity and freedom and expressing oneself—taking chances.”

Moses remained remarkably vital and productive until his death in 2018 at the age of ninety-one. Even into his nineties he painted daily in his Venice studio, pursuing the unknown with the same intensity that had defined his earliest years. As Michael Govan observed on the occasion of Moses’ 2015 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Ed Moses has been central to the history of art making in Los Angeles for more than half a century.”

One hundred years after his birth, Moses@100 celebrates a lifetime devoted to discovery, honoring an artist who embraced uncertainty, resisted complacency, and continually challenged the possibilities of painting. His work remains as fresh, adventurous, and profoundly influential today as at any point during his extraordinary career.

“I’m never inspired, I’m obsessed, and I look forward to painting every day.”

ROLAND REISS

Ed Moses

1926-2018

Photographed by gallery director Rob Brander in his Venice studio 2016

Ip-Out, 1958, Acrylic on canvas, 48” x 40”

Untitled, 1973-1974, Acrylic and Rhoplex on laminate tissue, 66” x 78”

Bozook, 2002, acrylic on canvas, Diptych, 96” x 120” (96” x 60” Each)

Arc #1, 2001, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 120”

Arc #1, 2001, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 120”

Sht-Wall x1, 2012-2014, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 144”

Many Feet, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 86.5” x 73.5”

W/Black #1, 2012, mixed media on canvas, 96” x 72”

Orange, 2011, mixed media on canvas, 96” x 72”

Flesh, 2011, mixed media on canvas, 96” x 72”

The Big Red One, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”

Wall Layuca #2, 1988, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”

Ces #1, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 84” x 75”

Hoop JW, 2003-2004, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”

Gold Bach, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”

Zocoo, 2004, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”

Frakin Usher, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”

Cat-Who A-1, 2006, Acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”

Redyps, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 96”

Grid 5, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

B/Red Grid, 2010, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

Primal Strategies #6/M-Y Branco, 1987-2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

Zoo #1, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 84” x 60”

Untitled, 2016, Paint, wood, metal rails, 72” x 64”

Mobi, 2000, Acrylic on canvas, 66” x 54”

What 4, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

Wack #1, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

Wax-O, 2003, Acrylic on canvas, 66” x 54”

Spiker, 2004, Acrylic on canvas, 66” x 54”

HOWA #1, 2001, Acrylic on canvas, 66” x 54”

White Over Black, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 84” x 48”

Crimba, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 60”

Park Rd #2, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 48”

Wake, 1988, Acrylic and asphaltum on canvas, 66” x 54”

Luard, 2006, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”

Liam #4, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”

#3, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”

#4, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48” Right: Ed Moses painting in the gallery, 2017. Photographed by gallery director Rob Brander

Cuba #2, 2014-15, Acrylic on canvas, 52” x 43”

All-Son, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 52” x 43”

Oopa, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 52” x 43”

Zogan, 2004, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”

Flashe 1, 2002, Acrylic on canvas, 52” x 43”

R/Blk, 2015, Mixed media on canvas, 36” x 30”

Blue Over Black, 2013, mixed media on canvas in artist’s frame, 25” x 25”

Red Over Black, 2013, mixed media on canvas in artist’s frame, 25” x 25”

Untitled (Yellow Grid June #1), Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 24”

Untitled (Red Grid June #1), Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 24”

Untitled, 1976-2009, acrylic on paper, 38” x 28” image, 41” x 31”, (framed)

Untitled, 1975-77, acrylic on paper, 38” x 26.5” image, 41” x 30” (framed)

Untitled, 1976-2009, acrylic and masking tape on Strathmore board, 41” x 31”

Untitled, 1976, india ink, graphite & masking tape on board, 29” x 22.5” (paper size)

ED MOSES EDUCATION 1955 B.A., University of California, Los Angeles 1958 M.A., University of California, Los Angeles SELECTED MUSEUM & IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS: 2026: William Turner Gallery: Moses@100 2021: Michael Kohn Gallery: Ed Moses, Edges, Magmas and Waterfalls 2019: William Turner Gallery: Ed Moses: Through the Looking Glass 2017: NEW BRITAIN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: California Dreaming: Ed Moses, Billy Al Bengston & Ed Ruscha, curated by Thomas Krens 2017: William Turner Gallery: Ed Moses: Chance & Circumstance 2016: William Turner Gallery: MOSES@90: Selected Work, 1950s to present 2016: Albertz Benda: Painting as Process 2015: William Turner Gallery: Ed Moses: Now & Then 2015: LACMA: Ed Moses: Drawings from the 1960s and 1970s, curated by Leslie Jones 2014: Claire Trevor School of the Arts, UC IRVINE: Cross-Section, A Retrospective 1996: MOCA: ED MOSES: A Retrospective, Curated by Jon Yau MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York Akron Art Institute of Art, Akron, Ohio Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Dartmouth College Gallery, Hanover, New Hampshire Denver Museum of Art, Denver, Colorado Gelco Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota Hereditary Disease Foundation, Los Angeles, California Irvine Collection, Irvine, California Janss Foundation, Thousand Oaks, California La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California Lannan Foundation, Chicago, Illinois Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California Los Angeles Times Collection, Los Angeles, California Menil Foundation, Rice Museum, Houston, Texas Musée national d’Art moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Continued National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut Neuberger Museum, Purchase, New York Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California Pasadena Art Museum (Norton Simon Museum of Art), Pasadena, California Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Prudential Insurance Company, Newark, New Jersey San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington University Art Museum, Berkeley, California University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas University of Miami, Miami, Florida Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Frederick Weisman Foundation Collection, Los Angeles, California Whitney Museum of American Art, New York AWARDS 1980 Received Guggenheim Fellowship.

1995 Received Honorary Doctorate Degree, Otis College of Art and DesignLong Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California

Design: Rob Brander Photography: Rob Brander Essays: William Turner / Abby Breuner Copyright 2026 William Turner Gallery Estate of Ed Moses

MOSES@100

WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY

MOSES@100

WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY