Relévant Galleries

From bow and arrow to Samurai sword, Ashley Collins speaks in the language of history.

Ancient tools, classical gestures, timeless symbols of power and precision. She pulls them from the past not to repeat them, but to say something urgent and present.

The rearing horse, the drawn bow, the mark made by someone who understands that to move forward, sometimes you must speak in the grammar of what came before.

This is what it looks like when an artist refuses to start from scratch.

Visit us at Relevant Galleries to view the collection.

“Maximus” by David Yarrow

Large (framed): 71” x 100”
Standard (framed): 52” x 71”

“There is such an unmistakable visual nod to that famous opening scene in Gladiator on this Tuscan pathway, that there was no need to be complex in my own narrative. Aside from establishing a very definitive sense of place, my key personal instruct was simplicity.

Blessed with a beautiful black stallion and the aesthetic glory of this amphitheater at sunrise, my sense was I really didn’t need to take things much further. Those with a visual sensibility have been drawn to this part of the world for 600 years.

My sole focus was achieving compositional balance and making sure I married the horse to the backdrop in the right size ratio. If there was a complexity, it was the tradeoff between proximity to the running stallion and my own personal safety. But his Roman trainer was so in control, I had no concerns.

Gladiator (2000) was nominated for 12 Oscars and won five. For many it remains a generational film and every day, tourists come to the Val d’Orcia pocket of Tuscany to have their little Russell Crowe fix. It was Crowe’s finest hour and meanwhile the cinematography team, led by John Mathieson, offered viewers a masterclass in the use of light.

Location scouting is a key part of Ridley Scott’s formidable tool kit and the Val d’Orcia scenes in Gladiator stood out as much as any. There was little CGI in play here - what one saw on screen is what was there in reality - hence the appeal to tourists. It is harder to do Gladiator tours in Rome.”

“Jagger” by Ryan Jones

Oil on canvas
Original
70” x 70”

Jagger is Ryan Jones’ tribute to the electricity of rock and roll — a portrait of charisma so magnetic it transcends generations. More than a depiction of Mick Jagger himself, the work captures the feeling of standing too close to greatness: the noise of the crowd, the pulse of music vibrating through the body long after the final song ends.

Each panel reveals a different facet of the legend. The roaring stadium crowd evokes the intoxicating chaos of live performance, while Jagger’s unmistakable gaze carries the confidence, rebellion, and effortless swagger that made him an icon far beyond music. The guitar becomes more than an instrument — its worn curves and gleaming hardware transformed into relics of a cultural movement that changed the sound, style, and attitude of an era.

What makes Jagger so compelling is its balance of spectacle and intimacy. Jones doesn’t simply paint fame; he paints presence. There is a raw humanity beneath the mythology — the quiet tension between vulnerability and performance, youth and immortality, man and icon. The work invites viewers to remember not just the music itself, but who they were when they first heard it.

New Release | “The Jerome” by David Yarrow
Edition of 12

Standard Size: 52” x 71” Framed
Large Size: 71” x 100” Framed

Prices available upon request

“The raw and imposing facade of the Jerome Hotel has lorded over Aspen since the 1880s. Its size and ornate brickwork remind us that Victorian architectural ambition extended beyond New York and Chicago, reaching even remote mining communities 8,000 feet
up in the Rockies.

The Jerome has witnessed much change in Aspen over 140 years: a tough blue-collar community evolved into a modest winter sports destination welcoming hipsters and artists as well as cowboy capitalists. Aspen then, of course, slowly grew into its role as the world’s most celebrated ski resort. It has lived more lives than most communities ever will.

The Jerome’s story is unique and it will no doubt continue to hold court long after we are all gone. It is the one historical constant the town can boast of, having hosted every conceivable archetype over its long life.

The hotel chooses not to judge, but if the
room walls could talk, there would be a large volume of stories to come from behind that grand brickwork facade. Not all guest behaviour at the Jerome has come from the highest ethical drawer and I think its legendary status is enhanced by that. This is no gateway to heaven; there is too much history of scandal and vice behind the brickwork.

My homage to the grandness of the Jerome demanded compositional balance and good spatial sensitivity. I knew my shooting position and for this to work I needed the help of the Aspen police department who have always been a joy to deal with.

We had no desire to be lame with our props and brought one of the world’s most expensive cars - the Ferrari 250 GTO - onto the set. That immediately allowed me to tell a bohemian story and in Kate Bock and Brooks Nader we had the talent to embrace the vibe.

My goal was to take an original photograph that Aspenites could smile at and in so doing celebrate one of the most historic hotels in America.

There is nowhere quite like The Jerome.“

THE PROCESS

Ashley Collins starts with pages torn from 1800s Harper’s Monthly journals, aged outside at her California ranch before a single brushstroke touches them. Then the horse emerges, built at ladder height, her body physically embedded in the scale of the work.

Then found objects: her grandmother’s clothespins. Vinyl records. Keys fashioned into spurs.

Then resin, spread with a blowtorch. History sealed beneath glass.

Collectors discover new objects in their paintings years after purchase.The work never finishes revealing itself.

Ashley Collins · Coming to Relevant Galleries · May 8th

When galleries told Ashley Collins that horse imagery couldn’t be contemporary art - she kept painting.

When they discovered she was a woman and rejected her again - she kept painting.

When she had nothing left, she borrowed every dollar she could find and opened a small gallery on Abbott Kinney in Venice, CA - converted from a garage. She promoted ‘Ashley Collins’ as a reclusive male painter from England. She showed other artists’ work by day. She painted her own work all night.

The ruse worked.

Swipe to see the work that changed everything.

Now collected across five continents — by Walton, Spielberg, Kroenke, Redford, Lady Gaga.

Prices have never declined. Not in 2008. Not in COVID.

“Each painting is a sacred journal entry — merging abstraction and figuration with narratives of resilience.”- Ashley Collins

Her work comes to Denver this May.

She slept on concrete floors so she could buy more paint.

She cooked meals on the same hot plate she used to melt wax onto canvas.

She spent years in Los Angeles — periodically homeless, sleeping in her car, in abandoned boats in the Venice marina — painting anyway.

Not for money. Not for recognition. Because she could not stop.

Ashley Collins is one of the most successful living female contemporary artists in the world. She built it entirely from the ground up and entirely against the grain.

Her introduction to Relevant Galleries arrives this May.

We’ll be sharing her story this week.

Relevant Galleries · Cherry Creek North