Ashley Longshore, also known as Sarah Longshore, is a Louisiana-born, former venturing artist and pop culture artist. She is the former owner of the now-defunct Longshore Studio Gallery, formerly located on Magazine Street in New Orleans, which she purchased in the late ’80s. Her artwork has been described by critics as “girl-next-door” and was compared to that of Andy Warhol’s famous works from the mid-century. Longshore’s paintings focus on popular culture, specifically pop culture, Hollywood glamour, and Americana and have always been discussed as a potential candidate for cultural vandalism due to her obvious similarities to well-known pop icons. Her artwork has won several national and local awards, but some of her work remains unknown to the general public.
Ashley Longshore attended the College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, but before that she worked briefly as a receptionist, telephone attendant, bookkeeper, and secretary before going on to become a painting contractor. A regular painting customer of Ashley’s was actress Mel Gibson, who asked her to paint her for an upcoming film, The Replacements. Once the painting was completed, Gibson approached Ashley about commissioning other celebrities to use her paintings, such as Pink Pearl, whom she painted for the music video for Mel Gibson and Guns’ n Roses’ “pledge of honor.” In this case, her painting ended up on the doorstep of the Replacements singer, James Morrison.
While working as a painting contractor, Longshore honed her skills and discovered her true calling when she decided to create her own gallery of art, called the Gallery of Ash Longshore, in New Orleans. She created a website for the gallery and started exhibiting work from her various projects, which gained international recognition and which she describes as “my greatest and most rewarding work to date.” Her portfolio has since been exhibited and marketed in numerous countries around the world, including London, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, and she currently runs her own art consultancy and management company. Ashley Longshore is currently retired and lives in Los Angeles.