Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Unveil Art Collection’s Atlanta Exhibition – MASHAHER

The attendees wore suits, gowns, sleeveless suit jackets, cocktail dresses, hoodies, Timbs — one person even sported a cape. It was “Come as you are, but be fly” on Friday night at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art where the power couple of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats unveiled their exhibit, “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alica Keys,” which will have a five-month residency in the city. Rappers Lil Baby and Killer Mike, artist-songwriter-producers Jermaine Dupri, The-Dream, Sean Garrett and Mike Will Made It, DJ/former MTV VJ Ed Lover and Roc Nation Executive Lenny Santiago were among the attendees.

“This is a representation of breaking out of all boxes — busting through all ceilings,” Keys said to the audience from the DJ booth. “Knowing we are completely unlimited, free to fly. Thank you to our ancestors for bringing us here today. We’re standing on their shoulders. Without them we couldn’t even be standing here.” 

The Dean Collection tour features over 100 works from Swizz (born Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys’ personal collection —15% of their total assemblage of more than 1,000 pieces, worth millions of dollars. The tour started on February 10 at the Brooklyn Museum in both artists’ hometown, New York City, where it remained until July 7. This past Friday, September 13— Swizz’s birthday — saw the launch of the second stop on the tour in his second hometown of Atlanta, where it can be seen at the High Museum until January 19, 2025. It will trek to various cities around the world through 2030.

“We collect from the heart,” Swizz told Variety on Friday.  “We like collecting subjects that people can pull from, learn from and go deep. There’s photography, sculptures, artifacts, many things.”

Jermaine Dupri said, “There’s a lot of inspiration in here — a lot of Black art. It makes me want to get this shit for my house!” Special drink mixes of Hennessy and salmon sliders were served. Swizz’s DJ, DJ Runna, played throwback R&B classics such as Jaheim’s “Just In Case” and Next’s “Wifey.” DJ Princess Cut also spun later in during the five-hour long event.

As one enters the exhibition, a synopsis on the wall reads, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,” which is all about legacy and paying homage to those who paved the way. The term “giants” references the size of many of the works — which easily cover a museum wall — and gives props to the featured 37 artists of color, ranging from legends such as Gordon Parks and Jean-Michel Basquiat to modern icons like Kehinde Wiley and new visionaries.

“I think it’s dope that that Swizz is introducing this to a younger generation,” Dupri continued. “Not so young, but it’s a younger generation of people in here from hip-hop that that’ll get interested in art and also learn about its value. It’s something it’s something people of color should learn about. I love that they brought it here to Atlanta.”

“Shout out to Swizz and Alicia,” Mike Will Made It said. “They’re pushing [culture] forward.”

Although Swizz and Alicia collect art from all over the world, they wanted the traveling Dean Collection to spotlight Black and brown artists, especially living ones. Keys has said that the goal of collection is to “collect, protect and respect,” nodding to her “brilliant” husband (who gifted her with a painting on their third date) for his taste and intuition for what’s next in the art world.

For Swizz, the event was also a joyful return to the stomping grounds of his youth. Swizz grew up in the South Bronx during the ‘80s, where he says he fell in love with art and music around the same time. His grandfather was an amateur photographer and had a darkroom in their family home; Swizz was also fascinated by the graffiti murals on the subways as well as the hip-hop music that blared from speakers in the parks, from apartment windows and cars that drove through the neighborhood. Before he became the architect of the Ruff Ryders crew’s sound, he was so rough around the edges he kept getting kicked out of high school in his early teenage years, hence his teenage relocation to Atlanta.

“It’s like a homecoming,” Swizz said on Friday, standing with his mother and some friends. “Atlanta actually saved me and gave me a reset of life. And to be able to bring the collection here to give back, to give life, it’s amazing to see all of us in here. We got the museum looking the color it needs to be, Black and brown with these white walls. I’d like to thank the High Museum for having the courage to do such an exhibit and change the audience and add the education to it. Hopefully, we’re opening up the gates for many more collectors and many more artists to be noticed and seen — this is a big, big blessing.”

Keys also led the attendees in prayer, a toast and in wishing her husband a happy birthday. After the exhibit, The Dean Family turned a nearby warehouse into party venue where they celebrated Swizz’s birthday along with family and friends such as 2 Chainz and Cordae.