Artist Bio

— DF, “An Artist of the TV Age,” Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2012
Drew Friedman’s illustrations and comics have appeared in RAW, Weirdo, BLAB!, Heavy Metal, National Lampoon, SPY, MAD, New Yorker, New York Times, New York Observer, Village Voice, Wall St. Journal, Rolling Stone, Time, Entertainment Weekly, MINESHAFT, and elsewhere. He has created art for the covers of numerous books, CDs, and DVDs, and produces a line of limited edition fine art prints.
In his New York Times review of Friedman’s book Old Jewish Comedians, Steven Heller wrote: “A festival of drawing virtuosity and fabulous craggy faces. Friedman might very well be the Vermeer of the Borscht Belt.” The Society of Illustrators hosted a main gallery showing of Friedman’s Old Jewish Comedians illustrations in 2014. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University held an exhibition of all artwork created for Drew’s book All The Presidents in Fall 2019.
Friedman is the author and artist of 15 books and anthologies, most recently Maverix & Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix, which includes a foreword by Marc Maron, and the forthcoming Schtick Figures: The Cool, The Comical and the Crazy.
A documentary about Friedman’s life and work, Vermeer of the Borscht Belt, directed by Kevin Dougherty, was released in 2024. It features cameos by Mike Judge, Patton Oswalt, R. Crumb, Gilbert Gottfried, and dozens of other fans of Drew’s work. Read an interview with Dougherty by Steven Heller here.
Friedman lives with his wife Kathy and beagle Dela in an undisclosed location in these United States.
LINKS
Drew Friedman at Wikipedia
Interview at WFMU’s Beware of the Blog
Drew Friedman on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, April 2015
Drew Friedman on Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast, March 2020
QUOTES
Read about the art of Drew Friedman