Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz attend ‘next level’ opening party for ‘Giants’ exhibit at Mia

Gaga and giddy with delight, patrons buzzed through the galleries of the Minneapolis Institute of Art Friday for an event that drew superlatives such as “lit,” “next level” and “an out-of-body experience.”

It was the sold-out preview launch party for “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys,” which runs through July 13. The music world superstars — Swizz Beatz, aka Kasseem Dean — were present at the exhibition of their world-class art holdings not just with their glamour and star power but also with genuine warmth and welcoming grace.

“We’re completely in awe of the journey of the Dean collection and so honored to be here at Mia,” Keys said.

“‘Giants’ is meant to be a place where the door is opened for all of us to experience [and] celebrate what art is meant to be — a [safe space] where you can be inspired, where you can see yourself, where you probe further into deeper questions.”

[Review: ‘Giants’ at Minneapolis Institute of Art delivers bold, big, colorful works]

Even for a state still basking in the afterglow of actor Timothée Chalamet’s December celebrity blitz for the Bob Dylan movie “A Complete Unknown,” the “Giants” preview party felt like a singular event in Minnesota’s cultural history.

Keys called it “a beautiful rumble.”

Taking the mic to thank Minnesota for “welcoming us into your universe,” she called Minneapolis an “empowered and creative city” and praised Mia as a vital institution that needs to be supported.

The collection is a coup for Mia and Minnesota, only the third stop for “Giants” after its premiere a year ago at New York’s Brooklyn Museum under the curatorial eye of Kimberli Gant before it moved to the High Museum in Atlanta in September.

If art is a language, then individual pieces are like words or phrases that curators put together to compose stories. At Mia, “Giants” unfolds with a similar narrative of irrepressible creativity and sublime genius that the show told on its previous stops.

But the pieces, curated by Mia curator Casey Riley, play out differently in Minnesota. One example: the works of Minnesota’s iconic modern-day Renaissance photographer, filmmaker and writer Gordon Parks occupy their own sizable room, an apt amplitude for someone who honed his craft in the state.

But from Amy Sherald to Kehinde Wiley, Meleko Mokgosi to Nick Cave, the pieces resonate in different keys, in part because of the volume of space that Minnesota offers.

As collectors, the Deans own the most photographs by Parks, whose influence was evoked by painter and “Exhibiting Forgiveness” filmmaker Titus Kaphar.

[Medcalf: Like ‘Giants’ exhibit at Mia, work of local Black artists is a gift]

Kaphar, who has monumental work in “Giants,” flew in from California for the preview party. Meeting Robin Hickman-Winfield, Parks’ niece, Kaphar related what her uncle’s “Emerging Man, Harlem, New York, 1952,” also in “Giants,” means to him.

The subject in the images is John Bates, a boxer Parks photographed as he peeped out of a manhole. Bates’ daughter, sculptor Diana Pumpelly Bates, is Kaphar’s mentor.

“I didn’t know Minnesota had this many Black people or this rich type of cultural life,” Kaphar said. “I’m definitely coming back.”

Minnesota music legend Jimmy Jam also flew in for “Giants.”

Mia “is the place that introduced me to art,” Jam said. “It’s a really important circle moment for me to be here tonight.”

The evening included a half-hour set by the Sounds of Blackness, including the numbers “The Drum (Africa to America)” and Jamecia Bennett bringing her powerhouse vocals to the group’s signature hit, “Optimistic.”

In person, the Deans exemplified the kind of selflessness that fans love in their celebrities, even if that giving can come at a cost. They jetted to Minnesota after performing Thursday night in New York.

They were warm and solicitous to high-dollar donors and regular folks alike, posing for photographs and rarely missing a chance to engage.

Swizz Beatz called Mia director and president Katie Luber “queen.”

“This is an exciting moment for Mia, the Twin Cities, and the tens of thousands of visitors who will experience this exhibit,” Luber said.

The love the Deans showed at Mia was reciprocated in the energy and excitement throughout the museum.

“We are here with powerful purpose and part of that is to usher in the next generation,” Keys said. “The purpose is to be and to bring the light.”

“Giants” is a call for people to dream and live big, the Deans intimated.

“The sky’s not the limit. It’s just a view,” Swizz Beatz added.