Molly's retro pen and ink work is a riot of detail and dirty jokes, like an R. Crumb in Victorian England. From bright and beautiful oil paintings of burlesque queens to charming drawings of Parisian cafes, Ms. Crabapple is poised to explode.

The Short Version

* Illustrator for fine places like Marvel Comics, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Playgirl. Molly's also illustrated five books, including her own.

*Creator of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, a cabaret-life-drawing class with nearly 50 branches around the world.

*Author of Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book, the heavily illustrated companion volume to Dr. Sketchy's.

*Artist for Backstage a murder mystery webcomic set in the burlesque halls of old New York. Appears every Thursday at Act-i-vate

*Caffeine addict.

The Long Version

Molly Crabapple is an award-winning artist, writer and the founder of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School.

Molly learned to draw in a Parisian bookstore. She later drew her way through Morocco and Kurdistan, and once into a Turkish jail. Back in New York, she got her first illustration job doing covers for SCREW Magazine. She now wields her drawing pen for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Playgirl, as well as jugglers, fire-eaters, and blogs that sell used panties. Equally adept at drawing sexy dames, whimsical kids illustrations and biting editorial, Molly would very much like to wield her pen for your project. Despite an "erotic" sense of humor, Molly has illustrated two children's books for Umbrelly Press.

Molly's equally known for her fine art. Her surreal, sexy Victoriana hangs in galleries across the country, as well as at the Coney Island Museum and the Museum of American Illustration. She has an upcoming solo show at NYC's Arena Studios, and a two person at NYC's Ad Hoc.

While her high-school novel is thankfully confined to oblivion, Molly writes smart-aleck essays for places like NY Press, Punk Planet, Jewcy.com, Coagula Arts Journal, and Art Calendar.

During college, Molly worked as an art model, appearing scantily-clad (if at all) on Nerve.com, SuicideGirls and Lowrider. Because of this, she makes lists like NY Post's "25 Sexiest New Yorkers". and Fleshbot's "Top Ten Hotties of 2005." She's danced burlesque and eaten fire in dive bars in New York, New Jersey and Boston, once opening for the Dresden Dolls. Yes, she gets strange emails.

In December 2005, Molly founded Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School . Disappointed by the dull life drawing classes she'd posed for, Molly built Dr. Sketchy's on the principles of fair pay for models and boozy fun for all. Artists draw burlesque dancers, compete in contests, and win liquor and prizes. Dr. Sketchy's scooped up copious media love from places like The LA Times, The Washington Post, the Village Voice, BBC, WNBC, The New Yorker, Nikkei Trendy (Japan), The San Francisco Chronicle, La Republicca (Italy), the National Post (Toronto), and countless other media outlets across the world.

In July 2006, Dr. Sketchy's went from Brooklyn event to international movement. Sister Sketchy's have sprung up nearly fifty cities across the world, including in Hollywood, London, Edinburgh, Rome, Toronto, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. These Dr. Sketchy's receive juicy press devotion of their own.

Molly's first book, Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book, was released by Sepulculture Publishing in December 2006. You should buy a copy. Sepulculture also released Dr. Sketchy's 2008 Pinup Calender, which is chock full of Molly drawings..

In her free time, Molly enjoys drinking coffee, drawing mean pictures and planning how to conquer Russia in the winter. She is hard at work on her next book, on how to make a living making pictures.

 

 

 

Do you want to interview me for a paper, zine, webzine, radio show, or any other media? Press@mollycrabapple.com.

 

Got questions? Comments? Scurrillous Allegations about my past? Email them to jen@mollycrabapple.com.

 

 

I learned to draw in a Parisian bookstore. My pen and ink technique comes from hours spent copying Alice in Wonderland and A Tart’s Progess. I soon fell in love with the feel of making ink lines- the crackle of the paper, the scratch of the pen nib, the sensual pleasure in drawing a curve.

 

Back in New York I came across the subject most dear to my heart - artifice. As a model, I work in an industry where girls turn their bodies into art objects. It’s a beauty doubly poignant because it’s so short-lived. Most girls won’t last past thirty. My time as a burlesque dancer showed me plain women emerging from the club’s dressing room as goddesses. Through paint, feathers and pasties, they made themselves gorgeous. It’s beauty as a garment, a shell, a mask.

 

In the two time periods I draw from most in my work- Victorian England and Rococo France- people tried to make their entire public lives as artificial as a burlesque dancer’s face. My characters, bewigged aristocrats and corseted ladies, are creatures of the polished surface. They’re molded by ornament- their corsets and cage skirts- and sometimes trapped inside.

 

But as with any mask, there’s a face underneath. And the face in my work is smirking. For any mask, or mask like society, has a weakness. If you want to crack it, you only have to laugh. Thus, my characters have arched brows and sarcastic smiles. They want to let you in on a secret. It’s all terribly silly, isn’t it?

 

 

 

Awards.

Honorable Mention. Going Underground Juried Show. Art at Large. 8/06
Honorable Mention. New Erotix Juried Erotic Art Show. Art at Large. 7/05

 

Solo Exhibitions

2008
Demimonde. Arena Studios. 2/08

2007
Peepshow: The Art of Molly Crabapple. Trinity Art Gallery. 1/07

2006
Licentious Behavior. Perihelion Arts. 5/06
Tarts and Flowers- A Valentines Day Show. Jigsaw Gallery. 2/06

2005
Ink! Babes! Irony!-Molly Crabapple Says Goodbye to Pen and Ink. Jigsaw Gallery. 2/05

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008
DEEP POP. Kenneth Chapman Gallery. 1/08
Pop Subversion. Ad Hoc Arts. 2/08
Two Person Show w/ Genevive Zacconi. Ad Hoc Arts. 8/08

2007
Fountain Art Fair. (during Art Basel Miami). 12/07
Home Sweet Home. Crybaby Gallery. 12/07
Masquerade. Dabora Gallery. 10/07
DECK. A Show of Skateboard Art. Pravus Gallery. 10/07
Naked Show. Bluespace Gallery. 9/07
Carnival. MF Gallery. 8/07
Seven Brides Electrified. Jail Gallery. 4/07
Ladies Only Show. Crybaby Gallery. 4/07
Don't Say MF. MF Gallery. 2/07
The Erotic Show. Trinity Art Gallery. 2/07

2006

The Drawing Show. Perihelion Arts. 11/06
Eye Candy. Trinity Art Gallery. 10/06
Paper Doll Show. Trunk Space. 10/06
Going Underground. Art at Large. 8/06
Dirty Detroit Summer Show. 8/06
Betty Does Veronica. Femina Potens. 6/06
Sex Worker Visions. Gallery exhibit organized by Spread magazine. Location TBA. 4/06
Native Spirit. Supreme Trading. Show curated by David Gibson. 3/06
Girls! Girls! Girls! MF Gallery 2/06
Dirty Detroit Erotic Art Fair 2/06
Victorian Rhapsodies. (Three Person Show) Toyroom Gallery. 1/06
Spin. CVB Space. 1/06

2005
Grope Show. Zito Studio/Gallery. 12/05
Broads on the Bowery. CBGB’s Gallery 313. 10/05
Cannibal Flower. Los Angeles. 9/05
Werwolf Bongo Party. DVA Gallery. Chicago. 10/05
Halloween Show. MF Gallery. 10/05
Untitled. Bluespace Gallery. 10/05
Cannibal Flower. Los Angeles. 8/05
BlueShow. BlueSpace Gallery. (Los Angeles). 7/05
Exquisite Corpse . Toyroom Gallery. ( Sacramento ) 10/05
Our Own Show. Museum of American Illustration. 9/05
New Erotix- the Third Annual Juried Erotic Art Show. Art at Large Gallery. 7/05
The Mermaid Show. Coney Island Museum . 6/05
The Smut Show. Green Door Gallery. ( Kansas City ) 5/05
Propaganda. Encrypt Gallery at Columbia University . 4/05
Patterns and More Patterns. Bamboo Lane Gallery . ( Los Angeles ) 4/05
Dirty Detroit Erotic Art Fair 2/05

 

2004
Lower East Side Festival of the Arts 8/03
The Hip Hop Show, Asterisk Art Project 4/04
Self Portraits, Theater for the New City 3/04
The Writer as Visual Artist, Theater for the New City 2/04
Terrible Toy Fair, CBGB 313 Gallery 1/04

 

2003
Queer Artists Talk Back, The DUMBA Collective.10/03
The DUMBO Festival of the Arts 10/03
The Lower East Side Festival of the Arts 8/03
“ Visions of New York” Antique Café/Gallery 7/03 (solo)
Resistance, a Festival of Peace, Theater for the New City 4/03

 

 

Education

Fashion Institute of Technology . A.A.S. Illustration

 

Memberships

Society of Illustrators. Artist Member

 

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Copyright Molly Crabapple © 2008 or earlier.
Design by Mekenzie Larsen.