{"id":439404,"date":"2026-05-22T03:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/439404\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T03:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:37:11","slug":"swizz-beatz-and-alicia-keys-bring-giants-exhibition-to-san-diego-essence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/439404\/","title":{"rendered":"Swizz Beatz And Alicia Keys Bring \u2018Giants\u2019 Exhibition To San Diego – Essence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Credit: Earl Manning\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhoa,\u201d Alicia Keys<\/a> says, looking up at the wall-sized work in front of her. \u201cThis is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keys has just stepped into the first floor gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Her reaction is directed at Mickalene Thomas\u2019 large-scale creation, Le Dejeuner sur l\u2019herbe: Les trois femmes noires. It\u2019s her first time seeing it in person, though it\u2019s something her husband, Swizz Beatz, immediately knew belonged in their collection. (\u201cThis feels really important for us,\u201d she recalls Swizz telling her before deciding to acquire the piece.) He purchased it because he believed it was something people needed to experience, and Keys feels his decision reflects exactly what their traveling exhibition has come to represent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the reason why this has been so special because when [Swizz] says, by the artist for the artist\u2014with the people, there is a connection that we have together with the artists because we\u2019re all artists,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As individuals, Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys are two of the most recognizable faces in music. One, is an iconic record producer and DJ with a unique eye for visual aesthetics. The other is a 18x GRAMMY Award-winner, and a classically-trained pianist. Together, they\u2019re known as The Deans<\/a>, one of the most influential families in the art world. Today, they\u2019re in La Jolla for the opening party of for Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys<\/a>, which has been making its rounds across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following a brief walkthrough of the exhibition, Swizz, Alicia, and I make our way to the museum\u2019s third floor for our interview. Along the way, we pass works like Titus Kaphar\u2019s A Puzzled Revolution (2021), one of Nick Cave\u2019s Soundsuits (2016), and Arthur Jafa\u2019s Big Wheel I (2018). The scale of the collection is striking, but what resonates even more is the fact that the Deans have chosen to share these works with the public instead of keeping them tucked away behind closed doors. \u201cWell, we designed Giants for it to feel like people are walking into our home,\u201d Swizz explains. \u201cAnd we want people to feel like they\u2019re welcome here,\u201d Alicia adds. \u201cBecause they\u2019re supposed to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giants originally debuted at the Brooklyn Museum<\/a> in 2024, a fitting starting point for a show created by two New York natives. Since then, it has traveled to cities including Atlanta, Minneapolis, Richmond, and now San Diego, drawing more than half a million visitors along the way. While each stop has adapted to its surrounding community, one constant throughout the exhibition\u2019s run has been Dr. Kimberli Gant, the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, who has helped guide Giants as it continues to evolve from city to city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues after video.<\/p>\n

Gant\u2019s relationship with the Deans began through the museum, where Swizz and Alicia were patrons of over the years. As conversations around their collection continued, the idea for a formal exhibition gradually took shape, and was strengthened by the shared understanding of what the project could be. From there, Gant worked closely with the couple to help shape the vision for Giants, balancing the ambitions of the Deans with those of each venue they would eventually visit. \u201cThere were several conversations about what their goals and hopes for the show were, same with mine and the institutions,\u201d Gant tells me during our video chat. \u201cThen, we brought together some ideas and as you can see,\u00a0 it worked out.\u201d Even after being involved from the very beginning, she\u2019s still surprised by how much the exhibition continues to reveal about itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, every time I see the show, I notice something about different works that maybe I didn\u2019t notice before,\u201d Gant says. I agree, having previously experienced Giants during its Atlanta stop in the fall of 2024, I found myself drawn to entirely different works at MCASD. During my conversation with the Deans, I mentioned that despite the scale of what surrounded us, one piece in particular really stuck.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of amazing pieces in this collection, but the one that speaks to me the most is the Barkley L. Hendricks upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landscape?!\u201d Alicia responds. I nod in agreement. Casual admirers of Barkley L. Hendricks are often more familiar with his portraiture\u2014works like Lawdy Mama (1969), What\u2019s Going On (1974), or Sir Nelson, Solid! (1970) are typically the first images attached to his name, but the landscape hanging inside Giants is different. Part of a 14-work series inspired by the annual trips Hendricks and his wife began taking to Jamaica in 1983, these works feel far removed from the portraits that made him famous. The selection also says a great deal about Swizz\u2019s eye as a collector, especially considering the story behind how the work entered the Dean Collection in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a big fan of Barkley for a long time,\u201d Swizz notes. \u201cI\u2019ve met him, and spent time with him\u2014I was looking to acquire his work for our collection.\u201d The specific piece he had his eye on, Photo Bloke (2016), had already been sold when he was ready to purchase it, but the situation ultimately led to something more meaningful. Following a gathering at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, Swizz had dinner with Hendricks and his wife, and the artist invited him to visit his studio and select other works because he appreciated what he and Alicia Keys were building their collection. Not long after, Hendricks passed away. \u201cWe never really get to go see his studio,\u201d Swizz says. \u201cBut then I remembered his wife always saying that he has landscapes that no one wants\u2014everybody only wanted the figurative work. When he passed away, I thought, Man, we still have to have Barkley in our collection. So, the landscape piece came to my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibition itself is remarkable because of the artwork on display, but just as important is the response it continues to draw from the communities in every city it visits. \u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful to experience that people are really excited to see this show,\u201d Gant says. \u201cI think they\u2019re really excited not only to see this show, but to bring other people to see it as well.\u201d Over the course of its national run, Giants has attracted celebrities, collectors, and major figures from across the art world, but its biggest success may be the way it\u2019s also pulled in everyday visitors who might not normally step inside a museum. Also, the afterparties surrounding Giants have developed a reputation of their own, and the California stop was no different. (Lou Lou\u2019s, which sits alongside the famed Lafayette Hotel<\/a> in San Diego, was the site of the Giants post-opening shindig. Swizz, as usual, took over DJ duties late into the night\u2014and let me tell you, it was unforgettable.)<\/p>\n

On the morning of the exhibition\u2019s opening, I was invited to have coffee at Por Vida<\/a>, a caf\u00e9 and art gallery located in the heart of San Diego\u2019s Barrio Logan neighborhood. Owned by Carolina Santana, the business is not only the site of some phenomenal pastries, it\u2019s also the place that sparked the idea for the locally-themed exhibition that opened alongside Giants this past April. The story, in a nutshell, is simple but powerful, nonetheless\u2014Swizz went to Por Vida one day, saw the Neighborhood Visualz exhibition inside, and decided to purchase the entire show.<\/p>\n

\"SwizzPor Vida Caf\u00e9 in Barrio Logan, San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to that coffee shop in Barrio Logan, and being able to feel the energy\u2014I instantly wanted to support them and put their works in The Dean Collection,\u201d Swizz explains. \u201cA few days later, I started getting texts, and phone calls, and I realized that one move touched so many people here in San Diego where we\u2019re bringing our art show. Now, how are we really including the energy of the people that built this space creatively? So, we decided to do something different and call it Hometown Heroes.\u201d Alicia, excited that I had seen Por Vida firsthand, mirroring her husband\u2019s statement. \u201cThe photography there was outrageous,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s so good, it\u2019s so beautiful, so raw, it\u2019s so organic. You really feel the spirit\u2014and that\u2019s what happens with all of these works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curated by MCASD Associate Curator Amy Crum, Hometown Heroes features photographers MJ Pimentel, Oscar Cruz, and Chata alongside regional artists Andrea Chung, Esteban Cabeza de Baca, and Fox Maxy. The exhibition explores the city through themes of gentrification, Chicana\/o\/e activism, and community pride, while highlighting the perspectives of BIPOC people. The Deans also celebrated the exhibition\u2019s opening with a performance and blessing from Danza Mexi\u2019cayotl, one of the oldest Chichimeca-Azteca dance groups in San Diego County. \u201cI think it\u2019s just our job to make a reintroduction to these places when we go there, and make people feel welcome in their own home,\u201d Swizz says.<\/p>\n

For the Deans, Giants isn\u2019t just about showing off their second-to-none collection of art; it\u2019s about making people feel invited into environments that have historically felt closed off. Alicia points to the couple\u2019s \u201cno commission\u201d platform as an early extension of that philosophy, explaining that too many young people grow up believing the art world is reserved for the wealthy or well-connected. \u201cThe masterful work that we\u2019ve created is unbelievable,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t believe how beautiful it is and what stories it tells and what it means; that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important because we belong everywhere.\u201d From a collector\u2019s perspective, Swizz reveals that many of the works with now Giants were initially difficult to acquire because major pieces were often reserved for elite collectors or museums. \u201cOur answer was like, \u2018Okay, well, let\u2019s put the artists in all the goddamn museums since the reason why we can\u2019t get work is because it\u2019s going to a museum,\u2019\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason Giants continues connecting with folks in every city is because the exhibition removes the feeling that upscale events like these are only meant for a select few. The Deans want visitors\u2014especially young Black and Brown visitors\u2014to see themselves when they walk through. \u201cWe really wanted to make sure that our culture was on the walls of these institutions and spaces, to show the greatness that we are,\u201d Alicia says. Swizz believes that the exhibition can also spark something for the next generation of artists stepping into the galleries that may have once felt out of reach. \u201cWe hope that the youth come here and get motivated and say, \u2018You know what? I\u2019m going to be on those walls and bigger ones,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cThat has always been our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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