—Alicia Keys
We need to be our most giant selves: to think our most giant thoughts, express ourselves in the biggest way possible, and give ourselves permission to be giants.
Musicians, songwriters, and producers Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys have stood as giants in the global cultural landscape for decades. As collectors, the Deans have lived their ethos of “artists supporting artists,” acquiring a world-class collection of paintings, photographs, and sculptures by diverse, multigenerational artists.
The exhibition illuminates the renown and impact of legendary and canon-expanding artists. Preeminent “giants” such as Barkley L. Hendricks, Esther Mahlangu, and Gordon Parks push the boundaries of what can be seen on canvas and in photography while building a foundation for today’s Black creatives. Contemporary artists like Hank Willis Thomas and Qualeasha Wood use materials like textiles, steel, and beads to celebrate Blackness and critique society, while mesmerizing compositions from Deana Lawson and Mickalene Thomas challenge and add nuance to perceptions of Blackness. Embodying the exhibition’s “giant” ethos, the paintings by Amy Sherald and Titus Kaphar command attention through striking monumentality. Together, these works bring to the fore many facets of the term giants and reflect the spirit of the Deans, whose creative lives infuse the exhibition.
The Dean Collection reflects the couple’s diverse passions, including their early acquisitions of albums, musical equipment, and BMX bikes and their present-day philosophy: “By the artist, for the artist, with the people.” Over the past twenty-five years, Swizz and Keys have cultivated sustained relationships with global artists by frequenting galleries, asking questions of dealers, and developing their taste in art. They have also used their digital platforms to uplift the present and future giants of the art world. For Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, all artists are giants.