Ashley Wood - 2024 August 04 2024
Ashley Wood
Outré Gallery Fitzroy
12 Jul - 4 Aug 2024
Opening Night
6–8pm on Friday, 12 July 2024
319 Smith Street, Fitzroy
Drinks provided by Range Life Wine & Bodriggy Brewing Co.
** CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SHOW
Ashley Wood is an award-winning Australian multi-media artist, illustrator, art director, and internationally renowned toy designer. Ashley Wood has been pushing the boundaries of comic books and collectible figures for over 30 years. Getting his start at the UK’s infamous serial 2000AD working on the iconic Judge Dredd series, eventually jumping to the Big Two publishers - Marvel and DC Comics doing both cover and interior work. His avant-garde approach caught the eye of Todd McFarlane and Image Comics, which led to his breakout work co-creating and illustrating the Hellspawn series.
In 2008 Wood co-founded 3A, a designer toy company based in Hong Kong, where he designed, art directed, and produced hundreds of original vinyl toys, action figures, fashion dolls, and couture streetwear, in-addition to producing high-end collectible figures for some of the world’s most well known brands. During this era he curated the Venture art exhibitions taking place in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, and San Diego. Each exhibition blended fine art, pop art, and toys and provided an outlet for established and up-and-coming artists to be seen by new audiences and expose the toy scene to something they’ve never seen before.
In 2019 Ashley Wood founded his own entertainment and collectible brand, Underverse, where he continues his legacy of producing high-end designer figures from his original series. He has also recently returned to Image Comics, creating new comics, republishing past work, and co-curating new independent series by other writers and artists around the world.
In the midst of all of this – Wood still finds the time to produce personal work for himself and for gallery shows across the globe.
Artist's statement:
A clutch of paintings demonstrating the idea that Romance eternally underpins, informs and in any altercation beats Cubism - albeit in a very tender and loving manner! The warm leatherette of Eros and Thanatos continues to inform me once again.
For a behind the scenes look at Ashley's practice, have a read of our interview with him here.