Here’s a new twist on some of our conversations on identity and performance, from Ben Westhoff, over at the Village Voice. It’s a story on Victor Varnado, who is an African American with albinism. He works as actor, and is also a stand-up comedian.
In his decision-making about which opportunities to take, he must confront the question many artists, particularly artists from marginalized backgrounds, often face: where is the limit between wanting to be known as an “artist of x,” and knowing that some of your success as an artist might also hinge on your deployment of your racial, sexual, melaninal specificity?