Artland: Exploring Abstraction: Ed Moses’ Whiplines, Waterfalls and Worms

California stood for a long time on the fringes of the artistic events and appreciation that agitated the New York scene. Against all odds, and with the support of one Los Angeles gallery and some brave collectors, Californian artists would finally find recognition and put Los Angeles on the art world map. Ed Moses was one of those artists. During his long art career, he traversed rough terrains before becoming a recognised and celebrated West Coast artist that along with the members of the Cool School electrified the late 1950s Los Angeles art scene.

Moses referred to himself as a “mutator”, a painter who rather continued to experiment, embracing transformation and change than to yield to the tenets of any singular art movement or style. Ed Moses has been honing a distinct visual vocabulary for over 60 years, absorbing the possibilities in painterly abstraction until his death in 2018. In the form of a new exhibition Whiplines, Waterfalls and Worms, occurring both inside the realm of the Internet and in a gallery space in London’s Mayfair, JD Malat Gallery celebrates the last two decades of Moses’ artistic career and showcases three distinct series of energetic and boldly colourful paintings. From different spots in Europe, we talked with the founder and director of the gallery, Jean-David Malat about the ongoing show as well as tapping into opportunities to support artists in entrepreneurial ways amid the pandemic.

Discovering Ed Moses

Jean-David has been captivated by Moses’ works since he had his first encounter with his paintings a few years ago in New York. “A friend of mine invited me to the opening of an exhibition of Jeff Koons in his gallery in New York. I went to the exhibition and my friend introduced me to Andy Moses, the son of Ed Moses, whom now I also represent. We went out for dinner and talked almost all night, and we immediately connected. We met again the very next day and started working together, that first manifested in Andy’s solo show in London in 2019. I have also visited him in his studio in Venice Beach, where he also showed me around the house of Ed. I found myself in a home surrounded by vivid, energetic paintings hanging on the wall, with vibrant colours and gripping textures exploding into space. I loved it. And today when I come to the gallery, I love them even more. They grow on you because when you are standing in front of his works, you can clearly connect with the emotions and the controlled movements Ed Moses put onto his paintings. It is truly a pleasure to curate a diverse body of work by such a versatile and widely respected artist.”