Ed Moses was once told at a press conference that he didn’t seem to be afraid of anything. Moses responded, “You’re right. I’m not afraid of anything, I’m terrified of everything.” In addition to his status as a celebrated painter Moses is known as a witty and often times challenging conversationalist. He is a formidable presence who shifts between quiet intensity and energetic passion, often delivering lines such as, “I don’t like artists I like artifacts- the things that artists have left,” with a kind and somewhat anarchic smile. He is both comfortable and happy inverting people’s expectations.

Ed Moses’ habit of playing with preconceived notions is perhaps an extension of the same rebellious nature that helped bring the Los Angeles modern art scene into worldwide recognition. He was part of a group of artists who started the Ferus Gallery in the late 1950’s. Although Moses describes the celebrated Ferus Gallery off-handedly, he does recognize it as a significant influence of the time. He is much more enthusiastic when talking about the artists he worked along side there. “We were all a bunch of rabble-rousers and had a lot of attitude. There were a lot of galleries before… much older than us. We were arrogant. We didn’t think any of them were any good. We thought we were real stuff. We didn’t sell anything. But we hung out in a bar, Barnies Beanery.” The Ferus artists were much more than a group of arrogant “rabble rousers” as a recent documentary about the Ferus Gallery entitled, The Cool School, would suggest. The Cool School goes so far as to depict the art scene in Los Angeles before the formation of the Ferus Gallery as a cultural wasteland or “ dust bowl.” It wasn’t until the Ferus Gallery that Los Angeles became a focal point of the modern art scene.

An Ed Moses painting is, as he puts it, “simply inspired by the one that came before it.” As a result he has been known to go through movements, where works over a period of time will be very similar. However, don’t try to find meaning in a piece, or analyze a period of his life to understand a particular movement. “They say, ‘well what does it mean?’ and I say, ‘well what does a bird mean when he’s singing a song. What does music mean when you’re listening to it’.” Ed Moses has a way of explaining things, or telling a story, that is as great a pleasure to hear as viewing one of his paintings.