New York-based, Jamaican-born Nicola Vassell is the curator of DREAMWEAVERS, a group exhibition currently underway and presented by UTA Artist Space and music producer, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean.
The exhibition opened on February 13 at UTA Artist Space, a famed exhibition venue in the heart of Beverly Hills, California. A bevy of celebrity guests were in attendance including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, and others.
The exhibit features leading Black artists David Hammons, Arthur Jafa, Nick Cave, Karon Davis, Deanna Lawson, Kehinde Wiley and Kerry James Marshall, among others. The artists’ work speak to themes such as identity, politics, social injustice as well as truth and reason.
Vassell, who first ventured to the United States as a successful model, is the founder of Concept NV, a curatorial agency that develops art projects exploring social and cultural phenomena. The agency links the traditional and experimental art worlds with brands, music, fashion and film, merging synergies between creative stakeholders in order to generate maximum cultural impact.
Dean, who has given Vassell the lead on past arts projects, is an entrepreneur and internationally acclaimed Grammy award-winning music producer who has worked with some of the biggest hitmakers in the world. Married to Alicia Keys, Dean and his wife founded The Dean Collection in 2014, which actively acquires and commissions work by visual artists and creates artist support initiatives. Dean currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and the Americas Foundation of the Serpentine Galleries in London.
Vassell was lauded for her work as the curatorial director of Dean’s No Commission installation at Miami’s 2017 Art Basel, which showcased 30 artists from the United States and the Caribbean, including Jamaican artists RenÈe Cox, Ebony G Patterson, Leasho Johnson, Di Andre Caprice Davis, and Phillip Thomas.
The DREAMWEAVERS exhibit is open to the public and will run for two months, closing on April 13th. For more information, visit http://www.utaartistspace.com/.
