A hectic timetable, nonetheless, didn’t maintain Dean from being a arms-on collaborator throughout the nine-month-extended venture, states Behun. “He life and breathes that house he understands every single sq. inch of it. Currently being distant would normally be an impediment, [but] he was so in tune with what he understood he wished, and that is why almost everything just clicked.” Erected in 2007, the cantilevered structure includes ground-to-ceiling glass, white concrete, grand walkways, manicured courtyards, and floating staircases. Keen on building the household much more family-friendly and fewer like a put a “superhero would live in,” Behun introduced in warmth by introducing wood components, Moroccan wool rugs, and seating upholstered in smooth fabrics like shearling and cotton velvet. The palette leans seriously on shades that harmonize with the views—golden sands, caramel browns, buttery cognacs. “The interiors never in any way shout they’re uncomplicated and timeless,” states Behun, afterwards introducing, “It was never likely to be about trying to upstage the normal environment, the architecture, or the artwork.”
Dean and Keys’s artwork assortment, amassed around 20 decades and totaling more than 1,000 operates, is as intensive as it is enviable. Years ago, the few selected to concentrate on acquiring parts by African American and African artists, ranging from Kehinde Wiley and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye to Barkley L. Hendricks and Henry Taylor. They also have a treasure trove of Gordon Parks images—the most significant in private arms. “It really feels like he’s a grandfather to us,” states Keys of the celebrated lensman. “To be capable to maintain his assortment with each other and for it to dwell in the household of Black artists is actually really psychological for me.”
In the major bed room, a pair of 1940’s Sven Staaf chairs upholstered in shearling from Hostler Burrows flank an oak and stone mosaic facet table with rope accents by Kelly Behun Studio from The Invisible Collection.
Frank Frances StudioIn accordance to Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, “Alicia and Kasseem see themselves not only as collectors of art but as custodians of the tradition.” She continues, “Over the many years, I’ve watched their collection create as their eyesight has widened and expanded to generate a collection that really signifies the breadth and depth of the work getting designed by Black artists.” Dean, a member of the board of the Brooklyn Museum, and Keys also collect to be in close neighborhood with fellow creatives. “I adore that 90 p.c of the artwork in the household is by artists who are now our close friends,” Dean offers. “We’ve broken bread with them, they’ve partied at our residence, they’ve spent the night. It’s not transactional for us.”