LA JOLLA — The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego announced today that it will host a new major exhibition featuring more than 130 works of art from the private collection of married musicians Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.
“Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys,” organized by the Brooklyn Museum in 2024, features the works of 37 Black American and diasporic artists from Africa, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean.
The exhibition, which will run in San Diego from April 18 through Aug. 9, includes paintings, photographs, sculptures and installations, with accompaniment by the music of Marvin Gaye.
“Giants offers an exciting opportunity for MCASD to participate more meaningfully in crucial dialogues about Black joy, resistance and cultural identity in contemporary art,” said Amy Crum, MCASD associate curator. “Many of the artists in the exhibition are already in MCASD’s collection and the exhibition will give our visitors a chance to experience them in a new way.”
Museum officials say the exhibition will highlight personal connections for Swizz Beatz — whose real name is Kasseem Dean — and Keys.
In “Becoming Giants,” the first of three distinct sections comprising the exhibition, a display of BMX bikes evoking Dean’s upbringing and a piano used by Keys in the early days of her career are featured.
The next section, “On the Shoulders of Giants,” honors the legacy of artists who have inspired generations to come, and showcases the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kwame Brathwaite, Esther Mahlangu and Gordon Parks.
The final section, “Giant Conversations,” is a two-part section that takes on social issues as part of a societal critique, while the second portion is dedicated to “celebrating Blackness.”
“Giants” will begin with a preview party on April 17, followed by an after party at the LaFayette Hotel.
The public opening exhibition will be held on April 18.
