Ashley Longshore
The pop art powerhouse who dares to dazzle
By Karen Giberson
Photographered by Andrew Egan
Styling by Kyle Sosa
Make-up by Will Sullivan
Hair by Isaac Davidson
Ashley Longshore’s world is a high-voltage fantasy where art, fashion, and audacity collide. From the moment you enter her Crosby Street gallery, the vibe is palpable. Pink $100 bills plaster the walls, oversized jeweled sculptures cover the floor, and Longshore herself, a walking work of art in a gold lamé dress and butterfly-adorned cape, is as much a part of the experience as her art. She is an irrepressible force of creativity, maximalism, and unfiltered joy.
The Alabama-born, New York-based mixedmedia artist has been called the “feminist Andy Warhol,” but the comparison hardly does her justice. Where Warhol was detached, Longshore disrupts. She paints, she sculpts, she designs, she provokes, and she does it all with an infectious mix of humor, rebellion, and style.
Her work has been exhibited across America and Europe and explores themes found in pop culture, American consumerism, and Hollywood. Labeled “Fashion’s Latest Art Darling” by The New York Times, Ashley made history as Bergdorf Goodman’s first female artist solo exhibit in its 100-plus-year history when she was featured in their iconic Fifth Avenue window display and designed the retailer’s “Palette at BG” café.
Fashion and art are uniquely inseparable in Longshore’s work. She paints women dripping in diamonds, repeat patterns of colorful, oversized Birkin bags — some overlayed with lettering “Fat Chicks Buy Their Own Birkins” — and exaggerated floral hats and crowns. Some of her work includes quiet messaging like “Stop Talking” on the side of a lifted teacup or overt messaging like “Work Hard, Eat Carbs, Spend Money” on a dinner plate.
It’s a visual language of female empowerment and self-celebration. Her collaborations span the luxury world, from designing couture clutches for Judith Leiber to partnering with Maybelline on a beautymeets-art collection. She has been an artist-inresidence at New York Fashion Week, painted live at Christian Siriano’s runway show, and even created one-of-a-kind pieces for Dennis Basso’s collections.
In many ways, her art mimics her own personal sense of style. “I feel most like myself when I’m in something completely outrageous,” she said. And she means it. For our shoot, she donned a fluffy, feathered “ball” gown by Michael Halpern, a garment that embodies the very drama and excess she celebrates in her work. “Minimalism? Quiet luxury? Burn it to the fucking ground,” she exclaimed. “It’s a time for maximalism.”