Senegalese artist, Omar Ba, has found a way of tackling societal issues with paint on canvas.

 “What the youth are doing in the streets is the same thing I’m doing in my studio,” said Ba, stepping in black paint and making footprints on a new canvas in his airy workspace outside the capital, Dakar.

Ba, one of Senegal’s best-known contemporary artists, has often used his art to make political statements. A current exhibit at the Galerie Templon in Brussels, ‘Anomalies’, critiques power-hungry leaders through a series of portraits of imaginary heads of state.

Ba said he was shocked to see such intense violence on the streets of his own country, widely viewed as a model of stability in West Africa.

“These are things I had seen on TV, but never here,” he said in an interview.

“I think visual art is something I have to use to denounce what’s not working, or to talk about what is positive, in society.”

The protests were triggered by the arrest of a popular opposition leader, but gathered pace on a wave of anger over economic inequality that has widened during the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands took to the streets, hurling rocks at security forces, who opened fire on protesters.

Some worry Senegal’s President Macky Sall will try to extend his rule beyond the allotted two terms, following a pattern of African leaders such as Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara and Guinea’s Alpha Conde who used constitutional changes to reset their time in power.

Sall has not commented on whether he will seek a third term.

Ba normally keeps his subjects anonymous, so as to focus on themes rather than individuals, but for his next collection he said he might depict Sall.

“Once they’re elected, (heads of state) completely change their discourse. I wanted to talk about that, and that’s why I called this exhibition ‘Anomalies’,” said Ba.

Four of the 12 paintings in the series deal with the coronavirus pandemic, conveying confusion and entrapment with the use of interlacing shapes and footprints.

COVID-19 exposed inequality and corruption in Africa, Ba said, and forced even the wealthy to rely on the ill-equipped public health services that they can normally afford to escape.

“Nobody could take planes to get treatment in Europe or the United States, and that was really great, because for once people realized that in their own hospitals there was nothing.”

Model and cookbook author, Chrissy Teigen, whose candid and unfiltered social media presence has been a major part of her personal brand, tweeted on Wednesday night that she was leaving Twitter because of the effect it was having on her well-being.

In a Twitter thread, she wrote:

For over 10 years, you guys have been my world. I honestly owe so much to this world we have created here. I truly consider so many of you my actual friends. But it’s time for me to say goodbye. This no longer serves me as positively as it serves me negatively, and I think that’s the right time to call something. I’ve always been portrayed as the strong clap-back girl but I’m just not. My desire to be liked and fear of pissing people off has made me somebody you didn’t sign up for, and a different human than I started out here as! Live well tweeters. Please know all I ever cared about was you. I encourage you to know and never forget that your words matter. No matter what you see, what that person portrays, or your intention. For years I have taken so many small, 2-follower count punches that at this point, I am honestly deeply bruised.

Her account was deactivated shortly afterward.

Earlier this week, Chrissy faced backlash from fans for announcing a collaboration with Kris Jenner on a line of cleaning products. People accused her of being a sellout.

Chrissy previously took a break from Twitter last May, making her account private after a dispute with New York Times food writer Alison Roman, who later apologised after an uproar over her comments.

Chrissy Teigen is an American model, television personality, author, and entrepreneur. She made her professional modeling debut in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2010 and later appeared on the 50th anniversary cover alongside Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge in 2014. She is the wife of John Legend.