Performance Artist Kalup Linzy And The Art Of Being A Character

THE art-fashion crowd struck a cool pose at the opening party for “On Shuffle,” an indie rock-themed show at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea. Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth nonchalantly stepped around her installation, a circle of glitter on the floor. Cecilia Dean, a founder of the avant-garde fashion bible Visionaire, sailed in wearing a black Margiela jersey.

Amid the swans nervously clutching a glass of white wine was the show’s unlikeliest darling, a black Southern-inflected, gender-bending, genre-defying video-and-performance artist named Kalup Linzy. Instead of the bad wigs or skimpy dresses that his characters are known for, Mr. Linzy looked positively demure in a beige henley T-shirt and sneakers. The only sparkle was a pair of diamond stud earrings.

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