Artist Molly Crabapple shared her art-making tools with her subjects in “Annotated Muses,” her new exhibition at Tribeca’s Postmasters and her first gallery show in New York. In this video, Crabapple tells us what went into the portraits, which are partly made up of materials her subjects turned over to her for use in the works, such as manuscripts, love letters, and eviction notices.
In each case, her portraits of people she finds inspiring, including a porn actress, a journalist, a witch, and a concert pianist, are “annotated” by the subjects, whether with a smear of paint or with text. In a distinctly feminist move, Crabapple has chosen almost entirely women to collaborate with on their stories.
Among those she painted are the philosopher known as Fuck Theory, the sex writer Chelsea G. Summers, and biochemist and revolutionary Sara Jafary. Porn performer/writer Stoya annotated her own portrait at the opening on October 10, and Crabapple explains the meaning of her inscription in this video, in which she also describes her portrayals of hacker and pianist Serene Han, musician Kim Boekbinder, and stripper and sex worker Akynos.
If you can’t get enough of Crabapple’s work, you can also check out her drawings for the New York Times video, illustrating Jay Z’s thoughts on the “war on drugs.”
“Annotated Muses” is be on view at Postmasters, 54 Franklin Street, through October 15.