Pop Artist Ashley Longshore Takes On Excess

With whimsical and colorful commentaries on our culture's obsession with power, money, celebrity, and material possessions, artist Ashley Longshore has earned comparisons to Warhol, counting the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Eli Manning, and Penelope Cruz among collectors. In her Trophy Series and Gordon Gekko collection — which respectively explore the ostentatious lives of trophy wives and dudes with billions to blow — she zeroes in on the fairy tale opulence of this distorted American Dream, with just the right amount of irreverence. We caught up with her about a few of our favorites.

If These Balls Could Talk
"Gordon Gekko is a god. He epitomizes the American Dream. We are raised to lust after greed and wanting more, more, more."

Get It Up
"I love to see a business man in a suit closing $100 million deals. I f***ing love jets and Maybachs and $1 million watches."

Big Doggin'
"My quest as an artist is discovering if it really makes a person happy. The good news is even if someone doesn't have two commas in their monthly paycheck, they can hang the American Dream on their walls. All of my clients are happy."

Wine Me Dine Me Sixty Nine Me
"As far as Uncle Sam goes... You can wine him, dine him, and sixty nine him and he still can't be satisfied. Like a 4th or 5th trophy wife!"

Big Money
"The bottom line is this, and Gordon Gekko said it best: greed is good."


Joe McGauley is a senior editor at Supercompressor. He also f***ing loves jets, Maybachs, and $1 million watches.