MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Annotated Muses

September 10 - October 15, 2016


Molly Crabapple, Kim Boekbinder, 2016. Mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48 inches. Kim Boekbinder is a rock star.

Postmasters Gallery is pleased to present Annotated Muses by Molly Crabapple, an artist and writer.
This will be Crabapple's first exhibition in three years.
The show will consist of 11 paintings: portraits of ten women and one man.

Crabapple created elaborate portraits of her "muses": friends, peers and heroes that are activists, journalists, artists, porn stars, musicians, philosophers, witches et al.

The process of making the paintings is three-step. First, she collects her own travel ephemera, and the papers that mean the most to her friends -- their code and manuscripts, military IDs and tarot cards, love letters and eviction notices. Then, she draws her subject on each paper. She draws her friend hundreds of times, their mouths, bodies, eyes, hands. She draws them just out of bed, and as they appear onstage. Their public personas. Their private faces. Then, she makes these portraits into a background for a large scale painting. The third step involves giving control over to her subjects, literally. She hands them the paintbrush, allowing them to annotate, adorn or deface their portraits, in whatever manner they see fit. In Annotated Muses, the muse is no longer silent. The muse talks back.

Last in the group, a six foot tall, eight foot wide portrait of Stoya will be annotated by her at the opening of the show.

The Muses:

Stoya
is a porn performer, aerialist and writer

Serene Han
is a hacker and classical pianist

Akynos
is a stripper, sex worker, sex worker activist -- as well as a producer, curator, writer.

Kim Boekbinder
is a rock star

Fuck Theory
is a philosopher

Katelan Foisy
is an artist, writer and witch

Jen Dziura
is an educator, columnist and author

Natasha Lennard
is a journalist and anarchist

Chelsea G. Summers
is a writer about sex

Najva Sol
is a photographer and writer

Sara Jafary
is a biochemist and revolutionary


MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Installation view
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Installation view
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Stoya

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 96 inches

Stoya is a porn performer, aerialist and writer
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Serene Han

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Serene Han is a hacker and classical pianist
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Katelan Foisy

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Katelan Foisy is an artist, writer and witch
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Kim Boekbinder

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Kim Boekbinder is a rock star
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Natasha Lennard

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 inches

Natasha Lennard is a journalist and anarchist
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Chelsea G. Summers

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
48 x 23.75 inches

Chelsea G. Summers is a a writer about sex
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Jen Dziura

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
48 x 31.75 inches

Jen Dziura is an educator, columnist and author
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Akynos

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Akynos is a stripper, sex worker, sex worker activist - as well as a producer, curator, writer
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Fuck Theory

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Fuck Theory is a philosopher
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Sara Jafary

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Sara Jafary is a biochemist and revolutionary
MOLLY CRABAPPLE
Najva Sol

2016
mixed media, collage and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches

Najva Sol is a photographer and writer