Ed Moses at Kohn Gallery

On view at Kohn Gallery in Hollywood is a posthumous exhibition of paintings by the influential LA abstractionist Ed Moses, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 91. Working prolifically until just two weeks before his death, Moses was a notable member of the “Cool School” artists and made work that was constantly experimental, pushing the boundaries of what paint and abstraction can do. 

On view are paintings from a few different series made between 1994 and 2001, offering the opportunity to dive into Moses’ layered and tactile use of acrylic. For the Magma series in the main gallery (from 2001), Moses used squeegees to create thick, cracking layers of paint that are layered over thinner and more ethereal grounds. His Waterfall series (2008) utilize squeegees to a different effect — the works are flatter, yet possess a conundrum of striated colors that get pulled across the canvas in organic and sculptural movements. The earliest series on view, Edges (1995), feels open and playful, as if one painting might encapsulate the totality of Moses’ expressive marks. Squeegee pulls, drips, and splooges happily co-exist in these dynamic compositions.

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Photo: Ed Moses, Edges, Magmas and Waterfalls (installation view) (2021). Image courtesy of Ed Moses and the Kohn Gallery.