Kalup Linzy
Chewing Gum (excerpt from SweetBerry Sonnet Remixed ) | 2008 | 2:25mins | BetaSP | USA
Kalup Linzy creates satirical narratives inspired by television soap operas, telenovelas and Hollywood melodramas using a multidisciplinary practice that includes videos, performances and music. Bringing an irreverent approach to stereotypes of race, gender and sexuality, Linzy performs, most often in drag, in a series of memorable recurring roles. The artist serves as writer, director, cinematographer, editor, and actor—and, in a distinctive strategy, also voices and overdubs the dialogue of multiple characters. At once comic, raunchy and poignant, Linzy’s unique narrative videos fuse dramatic intensity with melodramatic irony.
Linzy’s low-tech narratives embody a DIY sensibility, an approach that extends to the multiple contexts and formats in which he presents his works: Linzy has released his short videos episodically on YouTube, and they are also widely seen in art-world venues.
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SweetBerry Sonnet (Remixed) is a remixed version of Linzy’s recent video anthology, which was created to accompany the songs on Linzy’s 2008 album, SweetBerry Sonnet. Performing as his recurring characters (including Taiwan, Labisha, Katonya, Nucuavia and Jada), Linzy created a music video for each R&B inspired song on the album. With titles such as “Dirty Trade” and “Edge of My Couch,” the songs—all written and performed with sublime theatricality by Linzy—trace a melodramatic arc of desire and loss.
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