Meet Alison Bechdel and Howard Cruse at a special pre-MoCCA reception hosted by Chip Kidd on April 4 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. This cocktail reception is hosted at Chip’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where you’ll be able to view his incredible collection of original art from the likes of Chris Ware, Alex Ross, Frank Quitely and many others. Bechdel and Cruse are guests of honor at the MoCCA Arts Festival, presented by the Society of Illustrators on the weekend of April 5 and 6. This intimate gathering is limited to only 20 people. Tickets are $100 for CBLDF Members, $150 for non-members. Get your tickets here.
Alison Bechdel is an award-winning cartoonist best known for her long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. In 2006, Bechdel published Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, an autobiographical graphic memoir chronicling her childhood and relationship with her closeted bisexual father following his death. Fun Home was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and was named Best Book of 2006 by Time Magazine. A second graphic memoir, Are You My Mother: A Comic Drama, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in May 2012.
Howard Cruse first became known in the 1970s with his contributions to underground comix publications. In 1979 he began editing Gay Comix anthology series, featuring work by openly gay and lesbian cartoonists, and in the 1980s went on to create Wendel, a strip about a gay man, his lover Ollie, and a cast of quirky surrounding characters, which appeared regularly in The Advocate. During the 1990s Cruse worked on the award-winning graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby, published by DC Comics imprint Paradox Press. Since then, Cruse has published numerous titles including Wendel All Together, The Swimmer with a Rope in His Teeth(written by Jeanne E. Shaffer), From Headrack To Claude, Felix’s Friends, and more.
Chip Kidd is a Designer/Writer. His book cover designs for Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked non-stop since 1986, have won numerous awards and have revolutionized American book packaging. He is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications, as well as the Use of Photography in Design award from the International Center of Photography. He is the author of multiple books including The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners, as well as the graphic novel Batman: Death By Design (illustrated by Dave Taylor, published by DC Comics). Kidd is a distinguished and prolific Lecturer and has spoken at such notable institutions as Princeton, Yale, Havard, and RISD. He is a member of CBLDF’s Advisory Board.
Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to meet two of the greatest living graphic novelists on the eve of the MoCCA Arts Festival in the home of the most celebrated modern designer! Get your tickets now!