Molly Crabapple

How can art and its associated contexts—including cities, irreverence, beauty, and pluralism—stand against authoritarianism? From Trump to Putin to Erdoğan to Duterte, we are experiencing a global love affair with fascism (and its ringleaders), in which politics are less concerned with facts than emotion and imagery. What role can art play in climates of political repression and populist demagoguery? In this rallying talk, prolific painter and journalist Molly Crabapple asks us to consider art and artists not as apolitical entertainment, but as heralds of truth. Drawing on her experience as an award-winning reporter and illustrator of images that often stand as maps of historical moments, Crabapple’s latest keynote speaks to, and is customizable for, a wide variety of audiences. Incorporating stories of her work with the Occupy movement and reporting on Guantanamo Bay, this talk is for anyone with a hunger to understand our future better; if and how art can affect politics—and the world we'll share for the next four years and beyond.

For too long artists have played the role of observer, disconnected from the political activity of the people around them. Is that all an artist can contribute to society? In this personal talk, Molly Crabapple traces her experiences with the Occupy movement and recent Greek protests, describing the twists and turns that informed her political engagement as a visual artist. By combining politics with art, she shows that the place for art isn’t standing to one side of political movements, but marching in the thick of things. She speaks on the direct ways that making art contributes to political movements—by adding the visceral and immediate power of images to the words and ideas that drive political engagement. What’s more, she will help you recognize the opportunity to do more, and make a difference.

We live in an era of flux. The old model of a creator or creative type—a person who does one thing well, and depends on institutions for support—is falling by the wayside. The creator of the future is a super-connected trans-disciplinary mutant: engaged and intellectually rebellious. Molly Crabapple has created everything from Occupy Wall Street posters and arts journalism of collapsing countries to murals on the walls of the world’s most exclusive nightclubs.  On stage, she delivers an energizing, take-no-prisoners talk on how creators—how everyone—can create a life of their own design, without asking permission.