Ed Moses

Born near Long Beach, California, Ed Moses studied at UCLA, receiving B.A. and M.A. degrees. He has remained in the Los Angeles area much of his life and is one of that city's outstanding abstract artists. In the course of his career he has explored many styles. Initially drawn to abstract expressionism, he has also shown interest in color field painting and in minimalism. His work ranges from compositions featuring repeated decorative patterns to hard-edged geometric designs. Color is not used to describe objects, but rather to establish pure aesthetic experience. His graphics, such as the Wedge prints, reveal his interest in the ways in which the process and materials are united to become the image, purely abstract and referring only to itself. In these works, layers of pigment-impregnated paper are superimposed, creating interpenetrating planes of color imbedded in the physical matter. The overlapping facets of color and geometric patterns of the Wedges suggest the designs of Navajo Indians, but the image is removed from that context to stand alone as an independent abstract work of art.

[This is an excerpt from the interactive companion program to the videodisc American Art from the National Gallery of Art. Produced by the Department of Education Resources, this teaching resource is one of the Gallery's free-loan educational programs.]

Text © National Gallery of Art, 2024