Kalup Linzy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Artist
Kalup Linzy
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| Born | July 23, 1977 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of South Florida |
Kalup Linzy (born July 23, 1977) is an American video and performance artist. He currently lives and works in Tulsa, OK. His art often explores themes like community, family, and how people connect. He uses a simple, low-tech style in his videos.
Contents
Kalup Linzy's Early Life
Linzy was born in Clermont, Florida. He grew up in Stuckey, Florida, in a close-knit country community. His grandmother, Georgianna Linzy, who was a seamstress and deaf, helped raise him. His aunt Diane McMullen and uncle Isaiah McMullen also cared for him. His uncle was a minister and worked for the railroad.
Kalup spent weekends and summers with his father in Center Hill, Florida. He has a sister and several half-siblings. He also considers his aunt and uncle's six children as his siblings. Growing up, his family faced some challenges. This made a big impact on Kalup.
Education and Learning
Linzy went to South Lake High School in Groveland, Florida. He was very active there. He ran track and was president of the Student Government. He also joined Future Homemakers of America and Future Business Leaders of America.
Kalup's creative talents grew in chorus, theater, and church choir. His relatives taught him to play the piano by ear. In 1995, he was named a Walt Disney Dreamer and Doer. This was a special award for students in Central Florida.
After high school, he went to the University of South Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2000. While there, he started a community festival with a childhood friend. He then earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the same university in 2003.
Kalup Linzy's Artistic Career
Linzy often uses his childhood experiences in his art. For example, he makes video series that look like soap operas. He says that shows like Guiding Light were a big part of his family's daily life. He often uses common soap opera characters and stories in his videos. These videos have a simple, low-tech feel. They explore ideas about community, family, and social connections.
He also explores different identities in his art. He often dresses himself and other characters in different outfits. He uses pre-recorded voices or changes voices with video editing. He also plays with different ways of speaking. He creates detailed family trees and personalities for his soap opera characters. He sometimes asks friends, who are not professional actors, to be in his videos. Besides videos, Linzy performs on stage and writes songs. He also works with other artists.
In 2003, he moved to New York City to become a full-time artist. In 2005, his art was shown in two important galleries. This led to a review in The New York Times that said, "A star is born..." After that, Linzy received many awards and opportunities.
He has won grants from groups like The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. His art is now in many important collections. These include The Museum of Modern Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and The Whitney Museum of American Art. He has also given talks at many universities, including New York University and Harvard University.
Linzy has worked with many famous artists and designers. These include James Franco, Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, and Diane von Furstenberg. His work has been shown at major film festivals. These include Sundance Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. He has also been featured in many magazines like New York Magazine and Harper's Bazaar, Hong Kong.
In 2010, he appeared on the TV show General Hospital. He played a character named Kalup Ishmael alongside James Franco. In 2011, Linzy made a video for an opera called A Heavenly Act. This opera was shown at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. In 2012, he appeared in an art reality show while teaching at New York University.
Linzy's art was part of the 2016 Atlanta Biennial. In 2021, his film OK was chosen for the Circle Cinema Film Festival. It was also shown at the Video Art and Experimentation Festival.
Art Exhibitions
Solo Shows
- Le Petit Versailles, East Village, NY (2004)
- Kalup Linzy and Charles Nelson, Romo Gallery, Atlanta, GA (2005)
- All My Churen, LAXART, Los Angeles, CA (2006)
- Kalup Linzy, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York (2006)
- Taxter & Spengemann, New York (2006)
Group Shows
- Sunday in the Arts, Scarfone/Hartley Gallery, Tampa, FL (2002)
- All Together Now, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY (2003)
- Faith, Champion Fine Art, Culver City, CA (2004)
- Mommy! I'm! Not! An! Animal!, Capsule Gallery, New York, NY (2004)
- African Queen, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (2005)
- Frequency, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (2005)
- Do You Think I'm Disco, Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY (2006)
- Masquerade: Representation and the Self in Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (2006)
- Black Alphabet, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2006)
- Empathetic, Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA (2006)
- AFI FEST 2006, Los Angeles, CA
- Vocal Verbal, Studentski Center, Zegreb, Croatia (2007)
- Uncertain States of America - American Video Art in the 3rd Millennium, Moscow Biennial, Moscow, Russia (2007)
- Spotlight Film and Video Series, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin (2007)
- Prospect.1, New Orleans (2008)
- Project G.O.A.T., Tampa, FL (2021)
Videography
- Julietta Calls Ramone (2002)
- Ramone Calls Julietta Again: Booty Call (2002)
- Ride to da Club (2002)
- Conversations wit de Churen II: All My Churen (2005)
- Conversations wit de Churen III: Da Young & Da Mess (2005)
- Conversations wit de Churen IV: Play Wit De Churen (2005)
- KK Queens Survey (2005)
- Conversations wit de Churen V: As da Art World Might Turn (2006)
- Lollypop (2006)
- Melody Set Me Free (2007)
- That's Wassup (2007)
- Keys to Our Heart (2008)
- SweetBerry Sonnet (Remixed) (2008)
- OK (2021)
Discography
- 2011: Turn It Up (feat. James Franco) - EP
- 2012: Labisha the Diva (Tracks from Melody Set Me Free On Rabbit.TV) - EP
- 2013: Romantic Loner EP - Single
- 2013: Romantic Loner - Full Album
- 2014: Art Jobs and Lullabies - Full Album
- 2017: Tangled Up - Full Album
Images for kids
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Kalup Linzy on the set of Tangled Up
