The Dean Collection is an art collective founded by producer, rapper and art collector Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and his wife Alicia Keys. The Dean collection over the years has built a family art collection collecting works from renowned, established and upcomingartists across the world with primary focus on the support of living artists. The Dean collection has developed platforms that encourage progress in all facets of artistic practice.
The Dean Collection “TDC20 ST(ART)UPS” Selection process
Following the success of“No Commission”, a music and art fair held in three (3) continents staged by The Dean Collection and Barcadi. The Dean Collection then launched“TDC 20 St(art)ups” in May 2018, an initiative to support visual artists by providing funds to aid in artist career development and staging their own art shows, fairs or other exhibitions. The themes were open to any medium of artist choice within the visual arts. This first submission call was opened for proposals in the form of a business plan highlighting how such grant would be used along with Curriculum Vitae and samples of previous works done.
In June 2018, the winners were announcedfrom a stunning record of submissions from over five thousand(5000) entries worldwide.
The winners of the Dean Collection 20 St(art) ups grants
KIMANI BECKFORD
Artist Statement
Throughout my body of works created for this project “Affirmation,” I attempt to investigatethe black figure as my primary subject through imagery and portraiture with respect for ‘self’ and tore-contextualize the premises of what and who is seen as DIVINE. “Affirmation”signifies a very important label as I engaged myself in a conversational statement of asserting in portraiture painting that has been surfacing throughout art history and contemporary figure paintings. My ambition is to join the language of figure-making through paintings, while contributing to the legacy of having the black figures placed in the history of iconic portraits just as equal as any other race. I use black so predominate as a given in the context as to racial significance and the literal application of the raw pigment with intentions for strength, power and dominance along with figure gestures and compositions. There is a strong concern to traditional racial expressions and the imbalance of beauty within colonial communities. It is with relevance that each person respectfully affirms their presence in history as adaptation influences cultures. Identity has always been a priority in many cultures and for many races; I believe it is very important. The aesthetics of physical appearance play an important role in identity and that is why I personally choose my subject matter and placement thereof, with careful consideration. These placements are of iconic associations with religious and royal significance.
This series also examines how I view myself as a black person while making a statement on traditional racist expressions that “nothing black is good,” “Black represents ugly and evil” etc. When I paint, I paint as if I am writing a poem only without words. I want to challenge those degrading stigmatize lines of black presences. These paintings stand as a documentation of all black icons. In this life we are all images of what we conceive to be holy and everyone is divine in their own rights. Their expressions portray one of affirmation - having humility and powerful in their own rights.
