Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kalup Linzy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kalup, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

As unstable as it can be, I am happy as an artist. I know what it is like to work a regular job and try to focus on making art. I experienced this when I worked for The Mark Hotel through a temp agency. They wanted to hire me full time because I was so committed. Right around the same time, I won an artist grant and a free studio for a year. From that moment on, I focused on my work full time with visiting artists gigs here and there to help supplement my income.

Kalup, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

After I graduated from the University of South Florida in 2003, I moved to NYC. My video works were being passed around among friends, peers, and gatekeepers in the art world. Although the work related to Andy Warhol, John Waters, and Jack Smith’s underground films, many people felt like that hadn’t heard a voice like mine in the contemporary art world. In 2005, my professional career was launched. The videos operate on several levels. Thematically my work explores sexuality, gender stereotypes, cultural identities, and my childhood upbringing through soap opera based video and performance works. My videos are characteristically hyperbolic and gritty, often low-tech in quality with plots calling on socialization and community. I push gender boundaries by adorning myself and my subjects in drag, manipulating the voice, and inserting a familiar cultural vernacular into my dialogues. Each of my characters include an extensively mapped background, layered and linked together with the others to create a family tree. These characters have crossed over into music, fashion, film, and television.

I am most proud of the fact that I actually appeared on a real daytime soap opera. In 2010, I made an appearance on General Hospital alongside James Franco.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2017, a few weeks after having a very successful performance and appearance at Art Basel Miami, I discovered my mother had cancer and only had a few weeks to live. I also had a solo exhibition coming up in early 2018 and planned to make my way back to NYC full time. I was splitting my time between NYC and Florida. When my mother passed away in January 2018, everything shifted for me. I applied to the Tulsa Artist Fellowship and was accepted. Shortly after moving to Tulsa in 2019, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. A year after that, a few months into the 2020 pandemic, it was confirmed I had Chronic Kidney Disease. I was told I had to change my entire lifestyle. I did. During this time, with an opportunity provided by the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, I purchased a home and founded the Queen Rose Art House, launching my own artist residency and social space. This was something I had been dreaming of doing for years, but never thought I would have the funds and support. Although I never imagined myself not being an east coast based artist, life happened. I now take things at a slower pace. And while I still seek opportunities to present and support my work, I also provide that for other artists.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Realize how important art is to culture, The synergy it creates. The government and states should allocate more funding to support the arts and artists. Every town in this country should invest in art and create a local ecosystem that connects to regional, national, and international ecosystems.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.queenrosearthouse.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenrosearthouse
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kalup.linzy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kklinzy/featured

Image Credits
Headshot courtesy of Melissa Lukenbaugh and Tulsa Artist Fellowship Works 1. Queen Rose Art House 2023. Courtesy of the artist 2. Resemblance 3. Mixed Media Collage. 2019. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo 3. Taiwan, Kaye, and Joshua Justin performance promo. 2023. Courtesy of the artist 4. Performance for Oklahoma State University Art Students. 2022. Courtesy of the artist 5. Performance for Oklahoma State University Art Students. 2022. Courtesy of the artist 6. Artists Working on Murals at the Queen Rose Art House. 2023. Courtesy of the artist 7. “Let’s Make It Hot” from Not Ready To Say Goodbye. 2022. Courtesy of the artist 8. OK (still), 2021. Digital video (color, sound), 10min 55sec. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo