he Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester (MAG) is pleased to announce Kalup Linzy: Conversations wit de Churen V: As da Art World Might Turn. The exhibition will be on view at MAG from August 31 – December 1, 2019.
The exhibition includes a single-channel digital video projection from Kalup Linzy’s ongoing series Conversations wit de Churen. In this series, Linzy combines elements of Def Comedy Jam, Tyler Perry’s “Madea” character, and the early films of John Waters and Andy Warhol with the inherent drama of the soap opera genre. The title, a satirical play on All My Children and As the World Turns, sets the humorous and absurd tone of the piece.
As da Art World Might Turn tells the story of Katonya, a rising star in the art world about to have her first gallery show. In the video, Katonya, a cross-dressing alter ego of the artist, learns “how to deal with the economics of the art world.” Linzy makes evident the artifice of the character by wearing a cheap wig and no makeup, having visible body hair, and overacting like a soap opera star. To accentuate the artificiality of the performance, Linzy manipulates the dialogue, dubbing the voices in the accent and vernacular speech of his native central Florida. As a result, Katonya’s melodramatic, satirical, and unequivocal queer performance shows how racial and sexual stereotypes are also artificial and constructed.
About the Artist
Kalup Linzy is an American video and performance artist. He is the recipient of many awards, which include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital Grant, and a NYFA. Public collections include The Studio Museum in Harlem, Whitney Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is represented by David Castillo Gallery in Miami Beach and The Breeder Gallery in Athens, Greece. He serves on the board of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts and is a 2019 Tulsa Artist Fellow.