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Beyoncé and Jay Z’s love of art is well documented. Not only did they immortalize themselves and their connection to art in the “Apes–t” video, Jay Z also bragged about his art investments on his 4:44 track “The Story of O.J.,” rapping, “I bought some artwork for one million / Two years later, that s–t worth two million / Few years later, that s–t worth eight million / I can’t wait to give this s–t to my children / Y’all think it’s bougie, I’m like, it’s fine.” Yesterday, they made their love of art known once again when they attended the opening of a new exhibit in Los Angeles called DREAMWEAVERS, co-presented by Swizz Beatz at UTA Artist Space.
The power couple showed up to take in some pieces by African American artists like Kehinde Wiley, Barack Obama’s famed portraitist; Carrie Mae Weems; and Kerry James Marshall. For the occasion, Beyoncé wore an outfit that complemented the premise of the show: an Ankara suit and hat. She paired them with a tiny, boxy purse and a pair of sandals. Outside of viewing the art, she and Jay also spent time talking to some of the other guests, including Pharrell Williams and his wife, Helen Lasichanh.
Considering that Los Angeles is hosting the Frieze art fair for the first time, beginning tomorrow and lasting through Sunday, there are plenty more potential Beyoncé art-hopping sightings in store. Back in fall of 2017, just after she and Jay Z welcomed their twins, the pair went on a massive art-buying spree in New York City, adding to their collection of blue-chip names like Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, David Hammons, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
But their relationship with art goes beyond just purchasing it. Bey and Jay have literally become ambassadors to the fine-art world, as their “Apes–t” video helped bring a record number of visitors to Paris’ Louvre. The museum has not only now been seen in the video over 156,500,000 times since the June 2018 release, it has also been attended by a whopping 10.2 million people, which was up from the year before. The pieces the couple chose to film in front of also got a renewed interest, as Jay Z’s “Ape–t” stylist confirmed to W. ”I think people really got that art was imitating life,” June Ambrose said. “Seeing them in all these beautiful, artistic fashions, you realized they’re the Mona Lisa. They became those pieces too.” Now it’s almost one year later, and Beyoncé is no less a walking piece of art.