Friday Inspiration

GIANTS: Art from the Dean Collection

Katie and I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Art last week and caught a phenomenal visiting exhibit during its final days. GIANTS: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys is a stunning and expansive collection of artwork by black artists from Africa, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean. Many of the works are recent - pieces from the past two decades. This collection celebrates exciting ways the canon of great artists is growing beyond its traditional boundaries.

Here are a few photos I took as we toured the show. It originated at the Brooklyn Museum, and has now moved after a stop in Virginia. If you have an opportunity to see it at one of its future stops, I highly recommend it.

Portraits of Alicia Keys Dean and Kasseeem Daoud Dean by Kehinde Wiley (2004)

Yamaha CP-70: One of Alicia Keys instruments, with the words LOVE and FREEDOM from her 2014 single “We Are Here”

“We need to be our most giant selves: to think our most giant thoughts, express ourselves in the biggest way possible, and give ourseves permission to be giants.” —Alicia Keys

Swizz Beatz Drum Machine MPC3000 and Kool Herc Mixer

“…they were just hanging out you know…talking about…(…when the grow up…) (2016) by Ebony G. Patterson, Jamaican, born 1981 - This piece is an entire room. The scale is difficult to capture in a photo.

“Untitled (Langston Hughes)” (1983) by Jean-Michel Basquiat

"Sound Suit" (2016) by Nick Cave

Katie standing next to “Big Wheel I” (2018) by Arthur Jafa

I hope these images inspire you, make you think about the world around. Help you consider the impact your art can have on the world.

Go make some art. Be creative.

~Russ