Giants

Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys celebrates selections from the world-class collection of musical and cultural icons Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys. Giants focuses on over 100 works by nearly 40 multigenerational Black American, African, and African diasporic artists in the Dean Collection, hand-picked and curated by the Brooklyn Museum for a major exhibition.

Both book and exhibition bring together these 'giants' of the art world to embody and highlight the Deans' collecting philosophy: 'by the artist, for the artist, with the people.'

Praise for the Brooklyn Museum’s Giants exhibit as seen in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Wall Street Journal

'The musical luminaries have a keen eye for art and have built a stunning collection of works by Black artists with the aim of writing their own cultural narrative.' - Wall Street Journal

An essential history and anticipated future.' - Essence

'Moments like these ensure the continued prosperity of Black art.' - Artsy

'A celebration of Blackness and an ode to living life monumentally.' - Thrillist

'[A] triumph.' - Artnet News

'That’s what I enjoyed about this show: its big-hearted vibe, its generous spirit.' - The Washington Post

'Substantial and boldly designed … an encyclopedic necessity for anyone interested in contemporary art.' - Vanity Fair

'Our strategy is collecting from the heart…The reason why we doubled down on artists of color is because much of our own community wasn’t collecting these giants.' - Swizz Beatz

'We want people to see themselves…We want you to see the giants on whose shoulders we stand. We want you to see that you are also a giant, that you are special, incredible, unique, one of a kind.' - Alicia Keys

Interview by Kimberli Gant, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Gant was formerly the McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, and her publications include Anywhere But Here: Black Intellectuals in the Atlantic World and Beyond (2015).

Artist biographies by Indira Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

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