MOSES @90 WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
Santa Monica, CA - William Turner Gallery is pleased to present Moses@90, an expansive survey exhibition that will present Ed Moses’ innovation in drawing and painting. The installation will occupy two venues: William Turner Gallery and the former Santa Monica Museum of Art building at Bergamot Station. On the occasion of Moses’ 90th birthday, the exhibition will celebrate the varied and prolific career of this indelible Los Angeles art world fixture. A painter and “mutator”, whose allegiances have been to tireless experimentation rather than to the tenets of any one movement, Ed Moses has been honing a distinct visual vocabulary for over 60 years, obsessively mining the possibilities of abstraction. At 90, Moses continues his dogged search for the elusive metaphysical power of painting, creating works that are about the expression of temporality, process and presence, beyond the physical limitations of surface. The exhibition will survey works spanning the entirety of Moses’ career, including a selection of never before seen paintings. Earliest examples include meticulous architecturally inspired drawings from the 50s, the well-known Rose and patterned graphite drawings from the 1960s and 70s, cross hatch and screen paintings, looser gestural paintings from the 1990s, and more recent works that include the craquelure and mirror paintings. The restless energy with which Moses has borrowed from pre-existing formal vocabularies and adapted their morphologies to make them his own, attest to the mutable nature of his vision. A self-described “mark maker,” his concerns exceed formal ones and slip easily into philosophical and anthropological spaces. He has described his own process as a shamanistic offering, a self-assertion and proof of existence left for posterity to the “tribe”; a primitive desire to leave one’s mark. Above all else, the work is about the process of making, and the fragile reconciliation of chaos and control it requires. In Moses’ own words: “The point is not to be in control, but to be in tune.” A member of the original stable of artists showing at LA’s legendary Ferus gallery, Moses exhibited there for the first time while still an MFA student at UCLA in 1958. Exhibiting among the likes of Billy Al Bengston, Robert Irwin, Ed Kienholz, Larry Bell, and John Altoon, all of whom became known as the fabled “Cool School,” Moses was among those who shaped the infancy of the West Coast art scene. A maverick among them, given his preference for process driven abstraction over strict adherence to the Finish Fetish and Light and Space movements championed at the time, Moses has always done things a bit differently. With an itinerant aesthetic, he has continued to embrace transformation and change as a matter of course. In 1974, following an exhibition in New York with André Emmerich, Clement Greenberg himself immortalized Moses as a “player.” Ed Moses works daily, preferring to create out of doors en plein air. His unique Venice, California studio accommodates this freedom structurally with fluid transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces. This is the artist’s third exhibition with William Turner Gallery. Previous exhibitions include, Ed Moses: Now and Then (2015), and Ed Moses & Larry Poons: The Language of Paint (2014).
Venice Beach Paddle Tennis Court, 1952-53, crayon, graphite, ink, casein & collage on Strathmore board, 11 6/16”x22 1/4”
Venice Beach Paddle Tennis Court, 1952-53, crayon, graphite, ink, casein & collage on Strathmore board, 11 6/16”x22 1/4”
Kaw #5, 1965, graphite on paper, 25 3/4“ x 19 1/2“
Untitled, 1966, graphite on paper, 29� x 23 1/2�
Kaw #1, 1966, graphite and yellow carbon paper on paper, 19 1/2“ x 25 1/2�
Untitled, 1967, pencil, colored pencil & acrylic on paper, 13� x 16�
Untitled, 1967, colored pencil & graphite on paper, 13� x 16�
Untitled, 1967, graphite on paper, 12 1/4“ x 10 3/4” Right: Untitled, 1968, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 35 3/4” x 25 1/4”
Untitled, 1972-74, acrylic, tape, watercolor & colored pencil on vellum, 30� x 24 1/2�
Untitled, 1973, acrylic, tape, resin & colored pencil on 2 layers of tissue, 29 3/4“ x 24�
Untitled, 1973, watercolor on paper, 18 1/2“ x 15 1/2“ mat size Left: Untitled, 1973, acrylic, watercolor, masking tape & graphite on vellum, 30” x 24”
Untitled, 1979 - 95, acrylic and masking tape on strathmore board, 48� x 37�
Untitled, 1976-2009, acrylic and masking tape on strathmore board, 41� x 31�
Untitled, 1976, india ink, graphite and masking tape on board, 29� x 22 1/2�
Untitled, 1977, charcoal and masking tape on paper, 30� x 20�
Untitled, 1977, watercolor on paper, 13 3/4” x 10 3/4” Right: Untitled, 1979 - 95, acrylic and masking tape on Strathmore board, 48” x 37”
Untitled, 1980, ink & graphite on paper, 24 1/2“ x 31�
Untitled, 1977-90, acrylic and masking tape on board, 29 1/2“ x 19 1/2” Left: Untitled, 1984, acrylic on paper, 36” x
Untitled, 1990, acrylic on washi paper, 34 1/2” x 25 1/4”
Ray-Bo #2, 1998, oil, acrylic, masking tape on mylar, 30” x 24”
Untitled, 2004, acrylic on mylar, 24” x 34” Left: Untitled, 2004, acrylic on mylar, 34” x 26”
Untitled, 1975, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
Untitled, 1975, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
For Cedd, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 75” x 60”
Gre-Head #1, 1999, acrylic on panel, 48” x 60”
Pre-Aix, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Aix-Yaw, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Bronco, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 132”
Zuke 2, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 80” x 60”
Who-Ble, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
So-Enif, Bronco 1, Bronco 2, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 198”
Gump, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 84” x 66”
Ocnal, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 80” x 60”
Yenoh, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Takel-Oh Roja, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
koe koe, 2004, acylic on canvas, 57”x69”
ZOCOO, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Hoop JW, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Hoop JW, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Luara, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 60” LEFT: Dance #1, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 72”
Whoo-butts, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 72” Right: Cat-Who A-1, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
NY-2, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48” Left: AR-9, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 63” x 51”
Edward #1, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Arcain, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 48”
Sato, 2008/2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 120”
Sato, 2008/2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 120”
Sumo-Patton, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
White 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”
Blue over Black, 2013, mixed media on canvas in artist’s frame, 25” x 25” Black over White, 2013, mixed media on canvas in artist’s frame, 25” x 25”
Slide Allure, 2014, mixed media on canvas, 72” x 180”
Black Crucible, 2012, mixed media on canvas, 96” x 78”
Ro-RUN, 2014, mixed media on canvas, 96” x 60” Left: BLACK ON WHITE, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 96x78
ROUGH RIDER, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
B/Red Grid, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Reverse Grid, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Cuba #2, 2014-15, acrylic on canvas, 52” x 43”
Grid with Chutes and Ladders 10, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
What C, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60” Right: Grid #5, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
S Wall #X3, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 138”
Fly In, 2015-16, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 84” x 63”
Fly Away, 2015-16, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 96” x 66”
Untitled, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
Untitled, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
SCRATCH UP, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Untitled, 2016, paint, wood, metal rails, 72� x 64�
Woosh #1, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
Splash #3 & Splash #4, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 120”
Liam #5, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Number Three, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 75” x 60”
Number One, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
Flair #1, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 78” x 66”
Swiz, 2016, acrylic on canvas 79” x 74”
Tall Man #1, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Ha Who, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 66” x 42”
AE #1, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
Frut #3, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 108” x 60”
Frit #2, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 108” x 60”
2 Duts #1, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 114” x 62”
#2 Feather, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
Foo Man Chew, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 72” Left: Pop Goes Weasel & Whokoo2, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 96”
Bound & Fucked, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
HellKat, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72” x 60”
China #4, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
China #5, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”
ED MOSES CV Born Long Beach, California Lives and works in Venice, California Biography 1955 - B.A., University of California, Los Angeles 1958 - M.A., University of California, Los Angeles 1980 - Received Guggenheim Fellowship. Traveled in Japan 1981-82 - Lived in New York. Traveled in France and Canada 1983 - Taught at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME 1995 - Received Honorary Doctorate Degree, Otis College of Art and Design Public Collections Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY Akron Art Institute of Art, Akron, OH Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Dartmouth College Gallery, Hanover, NH Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO Gelco Collection, Minneapolis, MN Hereditary Disease Foundation, Los Angeles, CA Irvine Collection, Irvine, CA Janss Foundation, Thousand Oaks, CA Lannan Foundation, Chicago, IL Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Times Collection, Los Angeles, CA Menil Foundation, Rice Museum, Houston, TX Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, La Jolla, CA Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA Pasadena Art Museum (Norton Simon Museum of Art), Pasadena, CA Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA Prudential Insurance Company, Newark, NJ San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS University of Miami, Miami, FL Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN Frederick Weisman Foundation Collection, Los Angeles, CA Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT