What's the difference between art and entertainment? In this film, artist Kalup Linzy prepares for his debut performance as Kalup & Franco—a performance art music-based collaboration with the actor James Franco—at Rob Pruitt's "2010 Art Awards" at Webster Hall in the East Village. Kalup & Franco are the closing act for a Hollywood-style awards show where celebrity and contemporary art merge in ambiguous ways. Featuring excerpts of Linzy's original songs "Chewing Gum," "Hot Mess," and "Asshole," along with cameos by artists Marina Abramovic, John Currin, Rachel Feinstein, Mary Heilmann, Marilyn Minter, and Rob Pruitt; curators Klaus Biesenbach and Tom Eccles; dealer Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn; and critic Jerry Saltz.

Kalup & Franco's debut EP titled "Turn It Up," co-produced by DJ /rupture, is due out 07.12.11 on the label Dutty Artz.

Kalup Linzy (b. 1977, Clermont, Florida, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

CREDITS | "New York Close Up" Created & Produced by: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Editor: Mary Ann Toman. Cinematography: Rafael Moreno Salazar, Andrew David Watson & Ava Wiland. Additional Camera: Don Edler & John Marton. Key Grip: John Marton. Sound: Ian Forster, Nicholas Lindner & Ava Wiland. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Production Assistant: Paulina V. Ahlstrom, Don Edler & Maren Miller. Design: Open. Artwork: Kalup Linzy & James Franco. Music: The 2010 Art Awards Band. Thanks: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Bronwyn Keenan, Natural Health, NYC Taxi, Glenn O'Brien, Kangmei Pan, Rob Pruitt, Rob Pruitt's 2010 Art Awards, Lauren Van Natten, Webster Hall & White Columns. An Art21 Workshop Production. © Art21, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

"New York Close Up" is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support provided by The 1896 Studios & Stages.

For more info: art21.org/​newyorkcloseup