Kalup Linzy draws on his background as a gay, Black artist from the rural American South to create work which grapples with race, class, sexuality and family dynamics. His art encompasses painting, video and collage, and often satirizes popular cultural norms as well as the social politics of the art world. He employs a do-it-yourself aesthetic that gives each piece a gritty realism, earnestly expressing Linzy’s longing, aspiration and disappointment.

BIO:

Kalup Linzy is a painter, writer, director, actor, editor, singer-songwriter, and performance artist. He received a MFA and a BFA from the University of South Florida and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. 

Recent solo exhibitions of Linzy’s work include: the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; the Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, California; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and LAX ART in Los Angeles, California; among others. 

Recent group shows of Linzy’s work include: the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, New York; and the traveling exhibition 30 Americans. 

Linzy has held multiple performances and screenings at cultural centers across the US, including: the Carpenter Center at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; The Kitchen in New York; The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California; and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, California; among others. 

Linzy’s work is included in the permanent collections of: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, Florida; among others. 

Kalup Linzy has been honored with numerous awards and grants, including: The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant; the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; the Creative Capital Foundation grant; the Art Matters grant; The Jerome Foundation grant; the Harpo Foundation grant; and the Headlands Alumni Award residency. 

Linzy’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including: The New York Times; The New Yorker; Artnet; Artnewspaper; The Guardian; Frieze; Art in America; and Artforum; among others.