RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – The “Giants” art exhibit from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, featuring more than 130 works of art by 40 Black artists from across the United States and around the world.
The exhibit’s walls highlight diversity and different perspectives through art.
Takisha Ogunyemi brought her two sons, Amir and Nasir, to see the collection.
“It shows people from around the world, different places that are familiar to me, like New York and Brooklyn and the Bronx,” Ogunyemi said. “People don’t know how that looks outside of their own culture or neighborhood. So, to see pieces like that in a museum, it really was breathtaking.”
Her son Amir said the exhibit was inspiring.
“It was very inspirational and like empowering, walking through and seeing all the types of paintings and illustrations that were on the wall,” Amir said. “Even the camera captions, it had resonated a message towards me.”
Valerie Casseloliver with VMFA said exhibits like this are important to the community.
“Well, representation is important in all forms, whether it’s in arts and culture or in politics, if you will, and in a moment where –it’s no secret that there’s a in moment in which communities of color are in effect being erased,” Casseloliver said. “This reaffirms, you know, reaffirms a presence.”
The exhibit runs through March 1.
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