Longtime Champions of Black Art Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Are Bringing Their Collection to the Brooklyn Museum

The art collection of Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys and Kasseem Dean, the Grammy-winning rapper and producer known as Swizz Beatz, will be on view as part of the exhibition “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” at the Brooklyn Museum from February 10 to July 7, 2024. The married duo’s collection champions the work of Black artists.

The exhibition will showcase the work of approximately 40 artists from the Dean Collection, which includes pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arthur Jafa, Esther Mahlangu, Amy Sherald, Lorna Simpson, and Kehinde Wiley. It also boasts the most works by Gordon Parks held by private collectors.

“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 director Anne Pasternak said in a statement.

Divided into different sections, the show will highlight the couple’s creative efforts and aspects of how the collection was brought together. “On the Shoulders of Giants,” for example, showcases the work of artists who “have left an indelible mark on the world,” while “Giant Conversations” will explore Black social issues. Another section, “Giant Presence,” displays monumental artworks from the collection, among them, Nina Chanel Abney’s Catfish (2017).

Dean was previously on the Brooklyn Museum’s board from 2015 until last month.

Two ARTnews Top 200 Collectors, the native New Yorkers have long been passionate about supporting Black creatives. “There are far too many artists of all kinds—musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers—who have unfortunately contributed so much to the culture and have died with nothing,” Keys previously told ARTnews. “As artists [ourselves], we care about living artists and the just due that we receive.”