Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz aren’t just a Grammy-winning musical power couple; they’re also art aficionados. And they’re bringing “Giants: Art Collection from the Dean Collection,” their selection of original pieces created by Black artists, to the High Museum of Art for its Southeastern U.S. debut.
Held Sept. 13 through Jan. 19 in the High Museum’s Cousins Special Exhibition Galleries, “Giants” features 115 objects owned by Beatz, born Kasseem Dean, and Keys. The exhibition was organized by Brooklyn Museum and made its debut there in February.
The works are created by multigenerational Black and African visual artists including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Lorna Simpson and Deana Lawson. The paintings, photographs, and sculptures offer social commentary and capture seminal moments for Black culture.
“We are honored to present these extraordinary artworks from the Deans’ unparalleled collection, which features some of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. It’s fitting for us to bring this exhibition to Atlanta,” Rand Suffolk, the High Museum’s director, said in a press release.
“Giants” also features the work of Amy Sherald, a native of Columbus, Georgia, and winner of the High Museum’s 2018 David C. Driskell Prize award. The collection displays two versions of her “Deliverance” oil paintings on linen, which feature motorcyclists leaning back to bring their dirt bikes to 45-degree angles. Their inclusion highlights Dean’s family ties to the Ruff Ryders hip-hop collective which included the late rapper DMX.
Credit: Joseph Hyde
Credit: Joseph Hyde
“Man and Woman in Grayscale,” two pigmented inkjet prints created by Derrick Adams, capture side silhouettes of the husband-and-wife art enthusiasts, with their faces split in pieces similar to stained glass, in varying shades of gray. Adams brightens things up with “Floater 74,” which shows swimmers using fluorescent inflatables.
Also included is “Untitled (Radiah Frye Who Embraced Natural Hairstyles at AJASS Photoshoot),” a pigmented inkjet print from late visual artist Kwame Braithwaite. It features a Black woman against cool and neutral colors, wearing an afro hairstyle, reminiscent of a 1970s funk band album cover.
Artist Jamel Shabazz has 12 chromogenic and gelatin silver prints included in “Giants,” which capture subway travelers, B-boys and breakdancers in New York City from the 1980s to the present.
Credit: Glenn Steigelman
Credit: Glenn Steigelman
Barkley L. Hendricks’ romantic oil-on-linen pieces have landscapes of islands and bodies of water by sunset, outlined in round gold frames.
“Giants” also goes beyond the U.S. to spotlight artists representing the African Diaspora.
There are multicolored acrylic canvas works by South African artist Esther Mahlangu, who currently has a solo exhibition at ZuCot Gallery. Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola of Nigeria used charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper in the mural “Paris Apartment, 2016-2017,” which finely details a Black woman’s face and skin.
Also part of the collection are pieces in the “On the Shoulders of Giants” section, which honors Black elders and ancestors.
Credit: Glenn Steigelman
Credit: Glenn Steigelman
The “Giant Conversations” area of the exhibition examines artists observing and commenting on their environments. Nick Cave’s “Soundsuit” features a metallic casual suit behind a furry shield, signifying how Black men code-switch and wear costumes to protect themselves against violence.
“Giants” has its share of abstract works, including 2023 Driskell Prize recipient Ebony G. Patterson’s standing collage of beads, fabric, glitter, buttons, rhinestones, costume jewelry, glue and digital prints.
British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s blurry, bronze-toned “An Assistance of Amber” portrays a man resting on a sofa with closed eyes. Tschabalala Self’s “Father” focuses on a red-faced man standing upright and staring at his hands.
The “Giants” exhibit is part of other High Museum programming, including Teen Night on Sept. 21. Classes occur Tuesdays from Oct. 1 through Nov. 12, allowing participants to create their own portraits using similar techniques as the collection’s artists.
Art lovers can also take an affiliated walking tour through Little Five Points, which will connect hip-hop’s relationship to contemporary street art and the museum’s displays on Oct. 15.
“Giants” also has the Deans’ personal artifacts and memorabilia, including albums, musical equipment, instruments and BMX bikes.
Sept. 13-Jan. 19, 2025. High Museum of Art. 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4400. https://high.org/exhibition/giants/
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