Conversations wit de Churen V: As da Art World Might Turn

Video and performance artist Kalup Linzy developed the series Conversations wit de Churen in 2003 during his graduate studies at the University of South Florida. Riffing on the melodramatic soap operas he watched as a child, it follows the tortured relationships and inner lives of the Braswells, a fictional African American family, and a host of other characters, many of them played or voiced by Linzy. In this the artist follows the virtuosic cinematic tradition of Black actors, like Tyler Perry and Eddie Murphy, performing multiple roles on screen, often in elaborate makeup and prosthetics. Linzy’s productions are decidedly low-fi, however, incorporating simple costume changes and voice processing software to establish distinct characters and personalities.

Linzy was raised in rural central Florida, which forms the primary setting for his series. In this he grants visibility to a geographic region, and crucially to Black and queer characters, not typically represented in daytime television. This episode, the title of which parodies As the World Turns, features Linzy in the role of Katonya, his cross-dressing alter ego. An emerging artist on the verge of stardom, Katonya stands in for Linzy himself, who rose to prominence following his 2005 debut at The Studio Museum in Harlem. In the video, Katonya, clad in a black negligee and blond wig, wallows in obscurity until a studio visit with a gallery director leads to her first solo exhibition. With wry humor and camp theatricality, Linzy offers a pitch-perfect send up of the soap opera genre as well as a searing critique of the art world and those who inhabit it.