2008, digital video, color, sound
Curated by Abbe Schriber

The Westway
8:30PM screened on the half hour.
Discounted cover during the screening.

SweetBerry Sonnet (Remixed) brings together music videos Linzy created in accordance with his 2008 full-length album of songs, SweetBerry Sonnet. Linzy performs and voices every character of the corresponding video, usually in drag. These personas include recurring characters like Taiwan, Labisha, and Jada. Linzy’s multifaceted, multimedia vision draws on a variety of sources and references, including mass music and television outlets, black comedic and performative histories, regional cultures and dialects, soap opera, and drag performance. His unforgettable characters resonate with, and queer, a distinct American pop cultural voice, while also astutely reflecting the art world, the music industry, and the people who inhabit these institutions. His videos and music are generally low tech and pared-down, channeling a DIY vibe that evokes the age of YouTube and self-made celebrity, as well as the desire and longing at the heart of American dreams for fame, fortune, recognition and validation.

Kalup Linzy received both his BFA and MFA from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Studio Museum in Harlem; LAXART; the Whitney Museum of American Art; Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. He has performed and screened work at Performa; the Kitchen; the Museum of Modern Art; the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival; the British Film Institute; Beursschouwburg, Brussels; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego.

Located in downtown Manhattan on the West Side Highway, The Westway inhabits the space of a former strip club, with much of the original furnishing and décor left intact. WestGay is a weekly party at The Westway, every Tuesday night.