Our
@qualitymeatscreative portrait artist
@dontfretart tragically died after his long battle with an illness, at the short-lived age of 36.
I'm not entirely sure how or where to express these feelings I'm feeling, but I'm feeling them and need to put them out there.
When we first started QM and were trying to embody the overall vibes and spirit and personality of what we were trying to put out there, he was the first person I thought of.
He was a faceless/mysterious-ish Chicago street artist who created work that grabbed my eyeballs out of my face anywhere I went. It was raw and authentic and dumb and smart and ugly and beautiful. It embodied the roll-up-your-sleeved-ness-slash-hard-working-blue-collared-ness of Chicago. But with a disarming blunt honesty, strong wit and self-aware charm that would bring an instant smile to your face. And, frankly, it kind of felt like everything we wanted to be.
Since our agency’s inception I would speak with him regularly to get a new employee portrait made, or our Hot dog mascot, or a Chicagwa can, or our agency t-shirt, or some weird crypto coin character, or prints for client gifts, or the incredible Adweek cover he made for us. And it was always a trip.
In that time did he become my best friend? No. But he became good one. And we talked at lengths about many random deep, yet very dumb things. He was incredibly passionate, thoughtful and always hilarious. And it sucks so much he’s gone.
But he’s made his mark on anyone who’s ever seen his art, spoken with him, or been in the city of Chicago. And he most definitely left a strong mark on me and our agency. Something that will hopefully live on forever in spirit. Especially in our weird hot dog mascot guy that was pulled through the garden. Who I now will always remember as Cooper.
I’ll miss you buddy. And I promise I’ll never put ketchup on your beautiful hot dog body. RIP
And if you don’t know, check out
@dontfretart on Instagram, and now you do.
