"Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys" includes more than 130 significant works by 37 artists from the Black diaspora.
"Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys"
On view April 18 through Aug. 9, 2026
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Free admission Saturday, April 18 and every second Sunday and third Thursday
MCASD, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla
Free-$15
And that’s just 10% of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys' collection. The musical husband-and-wife duo are art lovers and collectors who are dedicated to acquiring and loaning works by artists of color.
But the couple has also signaled support to creatives right here in San Diego, where they call home. Recently, Swizz Beatz wandered into a local cafe and acquired an entire exhibit of film photography by Barrio Logan photographers MJ Pimentel and Oscar Cruz.
In an adjacent exhibit to "Giants," titled "Hometown Heroes," the museum is also showing those photographs, along with two portraits by local artist Chata already in the Dean Collection.
The inclusion of local art mirrors the Deans’ artistic commitment across the map.
"The original conceit of the show being that for communities that maybe hadn't historically seen themselves represented on the walls of museums, could see themselves and feel welcomed," said MCASD curator Amy Crum. "If 'Giants' is meant to be this invitation, then 'Hometown Heroes' feels like an extension of that for our own community, for San Diego."
Throughout a series of galleries spread across several floors of the museum, "Giants" showcases a diverse range of sculpture, painting, photography and installation.
Artists include Amy Sherald, Derrick Adams, Kehinde Wiley, Jamel Shabazz, Kwame Brathwaite, Barkley Hendricks, Tschabalala Self, Nick Cave and many more — including a stunning array of photography by legendary American photographer Gordon Parks.
"Gordon Parks was an incredibly prolific photographer. I believe he was the first Black photographer hired by LIFE Magazine," said Kimberli Gant, who curated the first iteration of "Giants" at the Brooklyn Museum.
"He was so influential on many generations of photographers and artists just generally — as a teacher, as a thinker, as a storyteller through the visual medium."
Gant says the Deans likely hold the largest collection of Parks’ work.
"It's about, I think, for them, preserving the history of America, of an incredible giant within the art world."
The main galleries in “Giants” trace the Dean family's approach to and appreciation for art, explore the "shoulders of giants" — historic, influential artists — and also celebrate Black joy and rest while casting a critical lens on society.
A massive installation by Jamaican artist Ebony Patterson draws viewers in with vivid and childlike detail. A bright fuchsia wall holds her 2016 work, "...they were just hanging out you know...talking about... (...when they grow up...)."
A closer look among the collaged, life-size portraits of children and arrangements of found objects and toys reveals bullet holes and destruction.
"She's saying, look at this beautiful moment. What happens if it gets destroyed?" Gant said.
This is the fifth stop on the “Giants” tour, but the San Diego exhibit is unique. In addition to "Hometown Heroes," it also debuts a new work by Mickalene Thomas, a recent acquisition to the collection.
Thomas' "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires" nods to — and disrupts — a painting by Édouard Manet.
The Manet painting includes two nude women surrounded by clothed men. Thomas' piece replaces the scene with three sparkling women lounging on a blanket, each looking directly at the viewer.
"There's incredible conversations about power and gender and sexuality and sex," Gant said of Thomas' work. "You've got rhinestones and collage and fabric and color, and it's just huge."
The exhibit also celebrates music, a nod to the Dean's professional and creative lives. A soundtrack curated by Swizz Beatz plays throughout and includes another nod to local creativity with multiple tracks by Thee Sacred Souls.
The brilliance of "Giants" rests in the threads between the works, weaving countless stories of joy, oppression, power, history and beauty. The representation of a broad range of artists brings those stories into a profound and relevant focus.
"What 'Giants' has done such a good job of is kind of pairing these really well-known artists, these giants of the art world, towering figures — with people that maybe are lesser known," Crum said.
For Gant, she hopes the exhibit will make viewers feel a sense of visibility and connection.
"Even if it's not a direct one-to-one correlation, it's still just — you have a memory, a thought, a feeling, and you see something relatable for yourself in there," Gant said.
