Alicia Keys And Swizz Beatz Curate New Art Exhibit At The Brooklyn Museum
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz are putting their art collection on display for the first time.
The exhibit titled “GIANTS: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” opens at the Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall on Feb. 10. Naturally, Keys is describing it as a “MUST SEE SHOW.”
“There is great brand recognition with the Deans,” Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art who was recently involved in Spike Lee’s showcase, explained to The New York Times. “People love Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, but they don’t know them as collectors.”
Swizz estimates that there are thousands of pieces in their current collection. He reportedly began collecting art as a teenager in the ’90s.
The rapper noted that it was hard to break into the market initially, and shared, “The reason why we doubled down on African American art is because people weren’t collecting it. Things flow a little better now. I definitely see changes being made, but we as collectors must take responsibility to shape the market.”
Of the exhibit, Keys expressed, “We have never seen all these artworks in one room.”
She continued, “I think that people are going to be very taken with what they see,” later citing her mantra as an art collector: “by the artists, for the artists, with the people.”
Gant added, “As artists themselves, Alicia and Swizz are focused on showing the synergy between musicians and visual artists who are trying to make change in the world through forms of creative expression.”
Select pieces from the couple’s art collection will be on display until July 7.
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