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Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz are more often associated with their musical artistry, but the NYC-native couple has also amassed an impressive visual art collection. This winter, you'll be able to see their collection at the Brooklyn Museum in a new exhibit called "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys."
The exhibition will feature more than 100 major artworks by important Black American, African, and African diasporic artists including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Hassan Hajjaj, Barkley L. Hendricks, Lorna Simpson, and Amy Sherald. The show featuring giants in the art world opens on February 10, 2024 and runs through July 7, 2024.
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"Giants" will be the first major showing of the world-class collection amassed by musical icons Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys. The duo has a passion for collecting albums, musical equipment, and BMX bikes—all with the philosophy of "Black artists supporting Black artists," Brooklyn Museum explained in a press release.
"Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys have been among the most vocal advocates for Black creatives to support Black artists through their collecting, advocacy, and partnerships. In the process, they have created one of the most important collections of contemporary art," Brooklyn Museum's Director Anne Pasternak said in a statement.
Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys have been among the most vocal advocates for Black creatives to support Black artists through their collecting, advocacy, and partnerships.
In addition to showcasing the musicians' collection, the exhibition also shares more about the creative lives and inspirations of the born-and-raised New Yorkers who have been making music for decades. Beatz began his career as a DJ, then as a performer and producer for his family’s record label, Ruff Ryders, at the age of 17. Keys, a 15-time Grammy Award-winning artist, learned to play the piano as a child, releasing her hit debut album when she was 20 years old.
They began collection art two decades ago with a focus on supporting living artists. They strive to support and build community among artists, especially artists of color.
"The collection started not just because we're art lovers, but also because there's not enough people of color collecting artists of color," Beatz told Cultured magazine in 2018. "We don't own enough of our culture. So we want to lead the pack in owning our own culture and owning our own narrative instead of waiting for someone who’s not part of the culture to tell our story for us."
The title of the Brooklyn Museum show—"Giants"—refers to several aspects: The renown of the collectors, the impact of canon-expanding contemporary artists, and the monumental works by artists like Derrick Adams, Arthur Jafa, and Meleko Mokgosi. Additionally, the museum says, the exhibition encourages "giant conversations" inspired by the works on view—critiquing society and celebrating Blackness.
The collection started not just because we're art lovers, but also because there's not enough people of color collecting artists of color.
Several sections will make up the exhibition, starting with "On the Shoulders of Giants," featuring colorful abstract paintings by Esther Mahlangu and street photography by artists Kwame Brathwaite, Malick Sidibé, and Gordon Parks.
Another section titled "Giant Conversations" explores how artists critique and comment on the world around them. Topics include protest, lack of visibility due to homelessness, and Black women's self-representation. Other works celebrate Blackness through street photography, henna artistry, and dirt bike culture.
As a finale, "Giant Presence" concludes the show with monumental artworks in the museum's Great Hall atrium. For example, Nina Chanel Abney’s Catfish (2017) offers a visual provocation about sexual and financial exchange between individuals in a colorful, almost cartoonish, setting. With his nearly eight-foot-tall Big Wheel I (2018), Arthur Jafa draws from Mississippi’s monster truck culture and histories of anti-Black violence, underscoring the coexistence of Black Americans’ joys and traumas.
After the show, significant works from the Dean Collection will enter the museum's permanent collection. In addition to the exhibit, expect a catalogue including interviews with artists in the Dean Collection, plus a conversation between the Deans and exhibition curator Kimberli Gant.