At some point in our lives, many of us come to witness the extreme outcomes of a relationship breakup. Lost love may leave some victims detached and uninspired by their surroundings, while others may fall into an undetermined fit of reckless behavior. In other cases detachment sparks a rebirth, where loss has transformed into boundless sources of creativity and awakening. Leave it to Richard Chandler Burroughs, marketing whiz and NYC party promoter turned author, to write a schematic, witty novel on the outcomes of dubious relationships. "A Rendezvous with Destiny" is set around three characters living in Manhattan who unknowingly create a set of circumstances in love's absence, that ultimately bring them together. “All these characters can collide, literally and figuratively.” explains Burroughs, “Its such a New York story, but such a cosmopolitan story.” I managed to read the entire novel in a weekend as I became instantly attached to the main characters that handled daily strife with realistic reactions and a calculated thought processes.

What does an African griot have in common with the Black Panther Party? How is a hip-hop DJ similar to a heroin addict? The aforementioned comparisons don’t make much sense on pen and paper. However, these are examples of thought producing relationships heavily featured in the artwork of Alfred Amadu Conteh.

Conteh grew up in Fort Valley, Georgia. He graduated from Hampton University in 1997 with a bachelors’ degree in fine arts. Conteh’s style is entrenched in southern African-American culture and he fearlessly uses various southern symbols, history, elements, and imagery (slavery, the Civil War, the confederate flag, rural landscapes, etc.). His work treats the place of his birth like a tell-all autobiography: an environment he is very proud of but unafraid to show the bad with the good.

Using a variety of mediums (oil on wood, oil on canvas, oil on wood assemblages, metal sculpture, Styrofoam), Alfred Conteh’s work is atmospheric and emotional. The three-dimensional quality frequently represented in Conteh’s work (specifically his assemblages) makes his surface more sculptural and enticing. The strong imagery in his work stirs emotions. “Hades” (a part of his Southern Deities’ series) is a haunting example. This adaptation of the Greek god of the underworld features a dark, brooding character surrounded by various religious symbols of the afterlife.

Spray paint, a skateboard, music, and an artistic gene all encompass the identity expressing the creative style of Kofie One. A self-taught artist, Kofie identified the beginnings of his medium in a motor yard of Los Angeles where he experienced graffiti culture. His way of life was skateboarding and his “crew”, whose common bond was the neighborhood and attending the L.A. Unified School District. Amongst Kofie were “creatives” from diverse backgrounds consisting of graffiti “writers and markers”---but Kofie’s focus was drawing cartoon characters.

When Kofie was about 10 years old, he was hanging in the neighborhood and watching older guys draw a mural on a wall of a convenient store. Kofie said, “ I draw characters.” The older guy said, “you can’t do nothing if you just do [draw] characters. You need to do [draw] letters.”