Image: Musée d'Art d'Indianapolis
Newfields will open 'Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys' at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields on September 19, 2026, presenting a focused selection of approximately 130 works from the couple’s private collection. The exhibition runs through February 28, 2027 and is organized by the Brooklyn Museum, with Belinda Tate, The Melvin and Bren Simon Director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, serving as coordinating curator for the presentation in Indianapolis.
The show traces the evolution of the Dean Collection over two decades. Built by musical and cultural figures Kasseem Dean, known as Swizz Beatz, and Alicia Keys, the collection is described by Newfields as a world-class holding centered on Black diasporic artists and aimed at expanding the art-historical narrative. The exhibition’s roster includes works by Gordon Parks, Amy Sherald, Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas, Barkley Hendricks, Deborah Roberts and Kehinde Wiley, among others.
Newfields says the exhibition’s title points both to the stature of the artists represented and to the scale of several works in the collection. It also frames the display as a platform for what the museum calls “giant conversations,” with works that critique society while celebrating Blackness. The collection spans multiple generations and invites viewers to consider the connections among artists across time and across media.
The exhibition is organized in sections that shape its interpretation. 'On the Shoulders of Giants' gathers work by artists who have helped define the visual language of contemporary Black art and related histories. Among the examples highlighted by Newfields are Esther Mahlangu’s large abstract paintings, which reimagine South African Ndebele house painting, and photographs by Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz documenting self-presentation, pride, everyday life and sociopolitical milestones. The section also situates figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barkley L. Hendricks and Ernie Barnes as foundational to later generations.
Another section, 'Giant Conversations', focuses on how artists have addressed representation, protest, visibility and protection. Newfields cites Lorna Simpson’s 'Tense' (1991) as a work considering Black women’s self-representation, and Nick Cave’s sculptural work as examining how Black men assume costumes to conceal and protect themselves against violence. The section also includes artists such as Jerome Lagarrigue and Henry Taylor, whose works address protest and homelessness, alongside photographs by Jamel Shabazz and an image by Hassan Hajjaj depicting Morocco’s female henna artists. Amy Sherald’s large-scale diptych on Baltimore dirt bike culture is also part of this grouping.
The final section, 'Giant Presence', turns to large-scale works with overt visual force. Newfields highlights Nina Chanel Abney’s 'Catfish' (2017), Arthur Jafa’s nearly eight-foot-tall 'Big Wheel I' (2018), and paintings by Titus Kaphar and Meleko Mokgosi. Jafa’s chained wheel is described by the museum as an evocation of the exploitation of the Black body and the African continent through mining. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by Phaidon.
Newfields notes that bringing the Dean Collection to the Indianapolis Museum of Art is especially fitting because several of the artists represented are also in the museum’s holdings. The exhibition is supported by JPMorganChase and additional donors listed by the institution, and the image for the presentation features Kehinde Wiley’s 2024 portraits of Alicia Keys Dean and Kasseem Daoud Dean.
