Edward Goss

Edward Goss (b. 1967, Toronto, Canada) is a self‑taught artist whose path to making art began unconventionally. He left home at age 17 to work in the construction trades, later completing a degree in horticulture before turning to art in 2002.

Working mainly in oil and colored pencil, Goss often integrates everyday materials—like paper, cardboard, newspaper fragments, and adhesive tape—into his pieces. Through dense layering, scraping, collage, and repeated motifs (notably letters), his work evokes a dynamic visual language rooted in neo‑expressionism.

Though based in Canada, Goss has spent significant periods living in New Mexico and San Francisco, broadening his creative horizons through travel and new context. His international profile was boosted by a collaboration with Comme des Garçons, a Japanese fashion house known for its art collaborations (the firm staged a landmark exhibition at Paris’s Centre Pompidou in 1986 and has partnered with artists such as Invader, Kaws, and Yu Minjun.

His canvases and three‑dimensional works burst with vivid color and energetic gesture—visually bold, layered, and tactile. The repetition of letters and shapes across surfaces suggests a private alphabet or subconscious cipher, offering viewers both intensity and structure within his expressive practice.