*Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys *was the first major exhibition drawn from the collection built over 25 years by Kasseem Dean (Swizz Beatz) and Alicia Keys. More than 130 works by 37 Black American and diasporic artists from Africa, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean—Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lorna Simpson, Kehinde Wiley, Amy Sherald, Arthur Jafa, Meleko Mokgosi, among others—spanning photography, painting, sculpture, and installation. The Deans have collected according to a stated philosophy: "By the artists, for the artists, with the people." The exhibition reflected that directly—sustained relationships with artists rather than market-driven acquisition, works monumental in scale and in the weight of what they were addressing. The exhibition design prioritized space and sightlines for work that demanded it—large rooms, open sight lines, nothing competing with canvases that ran floor to ceiling. The marketing was bold and direct: artwork, strong color, the work itself doing the heavy lifting.
Year: 2024
Clients: Brooklyn Museum
Category: Exhibition, Identity, Direction