Incredibly, Edward Goss first picked up a paintbrush in September of 2002.  Within 2 months he was supporting himself full time and in under a year he had regular patrons in the United States and Europe.  Don’t ask him to explain.  “I don’t understand it.  I haven’t even had time to think about it!” 

                  And don’t ask Edward to explain his creations.  “Sometimes people ask me to explain them.  They can take me three weeks to do.  How can I explain three weeks of my life?”   Edward tells people that he doesn’t like over explanations because they diminish the impact of the work.   His art is, well,  “full of everything, you name it”, acrylic, oil, layers of newspaper, house paint, tape, photographs, and  “God knows what else…I have one with a quarter painted into it, I can’t get it out, it’s kinda funny”.  Once he left a few large pieces outside to dry and Miles the dog had other ideas about the yard.  “I went outside and saw that he had dug up dirt and it was all over the art.  I almost had a heart attack.  So, those came with dog hair and New Mexico dirt...they had a lot of texture!” he laughs.   Where does he find the inspiration for what happens in his studio?  “I don’t know, man, it just comes and I don’t question it.  I go with the flow, you know.”

                      “I use my hands.  I’ve got to do it.  I go crazy if I don’t do it.  I get it all over me.”

               Edward is entirely self taught.  Originally from Toronto, Canada, Edward left home early, finished high school on his own, and later put himself through night school and received a degree in Horticulture.  He says  it's like him to pursue experiences with a singular vision, much as he did with sports and horseback riding.  While he has “doodled” all along, he was extremely shy about showing them to anyone.  Shortly before he picked up the paint brush, he began drawing on everything, “I knew something was about to happen”. 

                 But, Edward wasn’t thinking of art when he next found himself in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a place renown for galleries, artists, and creative expression.   What possessed him to buy that fateful paintbrush?  “I felt like I needed to paint something. In Santa Fe, you can see art every day, it’s all over and I just found it easy. It just happened.  I can’t explain it.  Beautiful things happen at the time and place when they’re supposed to, you know?”  It does turn out that the sun is good for drying his works, which are getting bigger and can take weeks to dry.  “I love the challenge of big canvas.” 

            Goss' colorful, dense, primitive-like paintings and sculptures have brought swift success.   In the 2005, Edward landed an exclusive contract with a well-known gallery in Santa Fe who changed their show schedule at the last minute to give Edward a show--exactly 3 years to the date of starting to paint.  In 2006 his Georgia show sold out and his collaboration with a Santa Fe artist  landed him on famous Canyon Road in Santa Fe.   This July, he had a show at Box Gallery across from Site Santa Fe.

Box Gallery Show  July2007                                                    courtesy E.Goss

        
               His work strikes an archetypal chord and--like archetypal images--they can not be totally contained by words. Edward tells people that he doesn’t like over explanations because they diminish the impact of the work. "Sometimes people ask me to explain them.  They can take me three weeks to do.  How can I explain three weeks of my life?”

             Edward's work is avidly collected  in the US and Europe.  This gallery was the first to show  Edward 's art and we are very pleased to continue to bring his work to Maine. The current show is scheduled  to coincide with "Factory Work: Warhol, Wyeth and Basquiat" at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland.

copywrite Edward Goss