06-MadgeLV1
©2009 Craig Ashby
Mixed media on masonite.
10″ x 7″

So here’s the beginning of the final set from 2009 (the rest are all 2010). I remember starting these around my birthday that year and they continued into Christmas. Christmas and Madonna, how easy is that?

This is the moment when I leave models and head directly into celebrity. So of course I chose Madonna. At that time I was really into Crystal Castles and subsequently the famous Trevor Brown take on Madonna. You can actually see someone’s tattoo of this image on his blog at http://www.pileup.com/babyart/_top.html. Just scroll down a bit. So although my image doesn’t look like his, he definitely gave me license to touch the sainted Madge.

I think my favorite bit in this one is the yellow layer. It’s a Kaws drawing of Spongebob Squarepants. Another precognitive moment (more to come on this), because in just a couple of years I would be working at a place with a 20 foot Kaws sculpture in its plaza.

Five arches. Ten Underwood devils. Four missing columns. All these things read nicely and harken back to an ancient portrait I did of Thomas Malic way back in the 1989-1990. This will eventually appear here too as a single post.