This weekend’s outstanding concerts brought to you by Quarantine Times.

New-media artist Nick Briz presents a net-arty online exhibition for the most virtual era or our lives.

We are pleased to present two poems by José Olivarez.
photo credit: Mercedes Zapata

This week’s live Lumpen Radio and Quarantine Times sponsored concerts

I am awake in the wee hours after midnight and watching the 2019 film “Atlantique” directed and co-written by Mati Diop. Willie Perdomo suggested it to me months ago, when we broke bread after we talked about his book The Crazy Bunch at Seminary Co-Op Books back in December 2019. This was back when I could go to a restaurant and be drowned out by the cacophony of other diners’ conversations and laughter. Now, I am eating alone, wiping down my groceries after they are delivered, and having a brief exchange with a delivery people (who are always Black or Latino), and we’re all wearing masks

This is our community, these are the people who we share a struggle with, our brothers and sisters. This is how the doors open for us, how we move towards economic justice, environmental justice, and how we protect ourselves from the innate corruption of a capitalist system that values profits over people. This is the time when we fight for us, as a creative class, for the benefit of everyone.

Growing up in an immigrant household, the default source of commerce for our family was through a restaurant. I watched as my parents and siblings worked tirelessly to put food on the table for nine children. Birthdays served only as a reminder for content to fill in a form

On May 26th from 8-10PM CST, join us via Lumpen Radio's twitch stream to celebrate the official release of "The World's Worst: A Guide to the Portsmouth Sinfonia."

ART-IN-PLACE is a collaboration between CNL Projects and Terrain Exhibitions that invites artists to exhibit an original work of art outside their home or from a window visible to the public between May 20- June 20, 2020. This collective action provides artists and community members in Chicagoland neighborhoods (and beyond) with a sense of hope and connectivity through the experience of public art during an unprecedented moment of isolation. The exhibited works will be featured in a curated collection of postcards made available for purchase in the coming weeks with proceeds benefiting the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund to support local Illinois artists and arts organizations. Original artwork will also be available for sale

Artist Ed Oh draws inspiration from Goya’s Witches’ Sabbath for a painting in progress during the quarantine, and finds new connections between Spanish witch hunts of the 17th century and today’s political climate.

“Are You A Foreign Artist?” is a series of reviews written by art critic Lori Waxman, in partnership with Li-Ming Hu during her solo exhibition DISCOmbobulation at Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The following reviews were written between 3 and 9pm on Saturday, February 22th, 2020.

Quarantine Day 62-67 in the life of artist, Grant Reynolds.

Early show at Lumpen Radio Twitch Channel. With Lumpen Radio show hosts and hometown favorite band, Chandeliers, on the bill!

Toast, a brunch place with two locations in Bucktown and Lincoln Park, closed down permanently. The workers have to somehow find new employment amongst the largest unemployment hike in recent history. The owners have to build up their lives again. The customers have to find a new place to eat and enjoy each other's company.

The home in Chicago where we’ve spent the last decade has been a creative and nurturing sanctuary for my young son and I. In quarantine, just as before quarantine, when we are here together we feel free to create, whether that be a song, poem, drawing, or handcraft. We generate joy through creation; both my son and I are fueled by the chaos and glee that creation can bring.

Thinking about the in-betweens, the happenstances, and the moments we encounter and create in our day-to-day, we organized Kedzie Stretch as a collaborative public art project located in Logan Square.

From May 11 to June 11, 2020, S.H.E. Gallery and The Broken Glass Collective host an online fundraiser for Life-Span, a sexual assault and domestic violence relief organization in Chicago.

How do our thoughts, lifestyles, and work need to shift to be sustainable because of the pandemic? Can artists offer solutions? Writer Micco Caporale looks to multimedia artist Kristin McWharter’s Movement Workshop for a Post-COVID Reality for answers.

The week of featured live radio shows on Lumpen Radio, 105.5fm and Lumpen Radio Twitch concerts.

DJ collective Sonorama shares some b-side Latin tunes and discuss the troubles of sharing music and connecting with community in quarantine.