Alfred Conteh: Deeply Rooted

Last month I was scheduled to attend an Art Show and hopefully get an interview or just a few moments to chop it up with artist and sculptor Alfred Conteh here in Chicago. I’m sure by now you’ve seen that our mayor is not having any of it, and unfortunately the show was canceled. So although I was unable to attend, and Conteh was unable to give us a show in person, he did give the public a view of his workspace. On May 7th, Conteh was live on Instagram for Virtual Visits with Art Noir. There he showcased some of his paintings while fielding questions as the viewers posted them.

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Beyoncé and the Savage

Recently, Meg released a remix of the song “Savage,” adding Beyoncé to the hit track. Immediately after the release of the remix, the track became a trending topic all over the web. On top of this, there have been many benefits from the production and release of the “Savage” remix. In the remix, Beyoncé shouted out OnlyFans, which is a social media website that allows their users to set up a paywall on their profiles. “Hips tick tock when I dance (Dance) / On that Demon time, she might start an OnlyFans (OnlyFans).” As a result, OnlyFans found that there was a 15 percent spike in traffic on the website. OnlyFans told Rolling Stones that, “Beyonce, and any artist, are welcome to join OnlyFans at any time to foster a deeper connection with their fans.”

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Quarantine Artists: Creativity out of Chaos

Delicately put, the world is in chaos. The Coronavirus threatens to take our family, friends, and neighbors from us. Statewide stay-at-home orders across America have secluded people in their homes if they're fortunate enough to have one. Healthcare workers fight this battle on the frontlines with minimal federal support. Essential workers are being forced back into work prematurely, or risk losing their income and health insurance if they’re fortunate enough to have it.

Around 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment claims in the last five weeks. The world is lacking beauty, joy, security, community, but certainly not inspiration. Since COVID-19 arrived in the United States, all sorts of artists are using this pandemic as their muse, documenting history with creativity and resilience.

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D-Nice: A DJ Saved Our Life

For many of us, it got real this past weekend. Clubs and bars were forced to close, as groups of more than 10 people or more were seen as high-risk when it comes to contracting COVID-19. Some people were taking it more seriously than others. DJ D-Nice was at the forefront and he devised a plan to help people who normally would be out in the clubs looking to have a good time, to still be able to do so from the comfort of their own home. DJ D-Nice live-streamed an Instagram party during the week, and by the weekend he maxed out at over 100,000 live viewers.

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