Molly Crabapple
American artist and writer known for illustrated journalism.
Molly Crabapple (born Jennifer Caban; 1983) is an American artist and writer. She is a contributing editor for Vice and has published books including an illustrated memoir, a history of the Jewish Labor Bund that became a New York Times best seller, and works held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Barjeel Art Foundation, and the New-York Historical Society.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Jennifer Caban
- Born
- 1983
- Birthplace
- Queens, New York, United States
- Education
- Fashion Institute of Technology
- Movement
- Surrealism, Steampunk
- Known for
- Fine art
- illustration
- writing
Facts from the source article.
Early life
Molly Crabapple, originally named Jennifer Caban, came into the world in 1983 in Queens, New York. Her father was Puerto Rican, and her mother, a Jewish illustrator who designed toy packaging, was the granddaughter of a Belarusian immigrant. At age four, her mother taught her to draw. By twelve, she was a punk-loving goth kid in Doc Martens, sketching headless cheerleaders and reading the Marquis de Sade. Diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, she was kicked out of seventh grade. Disliking her birth name, she took the moniker Molly Crabapple on a boyfriend’s suggestion that it fit her personality. After finishing high school at seventeen, she traveled to Europe. In Paris, bookseller George Whitman welcomed her at Shakespeare and Company. A gift of a notebook there prompted her to start drawing seriously.
Career
Crabapple worked as a life model and burlesque performer, and modeled for the Society of Illustrators. At age 19, she modeled for SuicideGirls and responded to Craigslist ads for nude photographic modeling, earning more money than at a typical day job while continuing her illustrations. She briefly attended the Fashion Institute of Technology but withdrew before completing her first year, describing the school as having "fluorescent-lit halls hung with clumsy oil paintings cranked out by the previous semester of failures." For four years she worked as the house artist for the Box, a New York City nightclub, which she called her "artistic coming-of-age." In 2005, she and illustrator A. V. Phibes founded Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, a burlesque life-drawing class where artists could drink alcohol while sketching models; by 2010, there were approximately 150 licensees worldwide. She contributed illustrations to comics including Backstage (2008), Scarlett Takes Manhattan (2009), and Puppet Makers (2011), and illustrated two Marvel anthologies. In September 2011, living near Zuccotti Park, she contributed art to the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying it allowed her to engage her art in politics.
Style and influence
Crabapple uses a crosshatch style based on Arthur L. Guptill's technique in Rendering in Pen and Ink. Her influences include Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Zoetica Ebb, Travis Louie, Clayton Cubitt, and Fred Harper. Der Spiegel described her approach as creating a new role of political journalist-artist, and Time magazine named her a Next Generation Leader in October 2016.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Molly Crabapple born?
Molly Crabapple was born in 1983 in Queens, New York, United States.
What is Molly Crabapple known for?
Molly Crabapple is known for Fine art, illustration and writing.
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