Beyonce and Jay-Z Are Getting Dragged For Using A Basquiat Painting In Their Tiffany & Co. Ad
As mentioned in Night Crumbs last night, Beyonce and Jay-Z partnered with Tiffany & Co. for a new ad campaign titled About Love. The ad features the two of them laughing at the poor in front of a never-before-seen painting by renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat titled Equals Pi. Well, why the hell did they do that? Because now folks are pointing their fingers at them and yelling “Shenanigans!” on their tone-deaf usage of Basquiat’s piece.
Buzzfeed reports that people are accusing Napoleon and Marie Antoinette Carter of throwing their elitist tastes in all of our faces by, for starters, working with a brand like Tiffany & Co. and also hoarding a piece of artwork all to themselves when they should be sharing it with the world. But here’s the gotcha; it ain’t even their painting. Equals Pi was originally owned by Italian designers Alberto & Stefania Sabbadini, who in turn privately sold it to LVMH, which owns Tiffany’s. The Basquiat painting was chosen because its blue is similar to Tiffany’s signature color and because the Carters love Basquiat.
This campaign marks the first public appearance for the painting, and according to the release, it was included because art serves as a “common thread throughout the Carters’ love story.
The Carters for Tiffany & Co. #AboutLove #TiffanyAndCo
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© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York pic.twitter.com/uQqkkJRbhY— Roc Nation (@RocNation) August 23, 2021
Honestly, this looks like they both had one too many shots of Dusse’ and decided to remake an all-black version of Breakfast At Tiffany’s starring just the two of them (but Blue Ivy probably had to film it. Bless her little heart). Some people aren’t amused by this ad and think that Basquiat would never approve of a capitalist move like using his art to sell diamonds:
Jay cosplaying as Basquiat is really getting on my nerves.
— Aht Aht 🙅🏽♀️🚫 (@MsLaFitteTweets) August 23, 2021
Using never-before-seen Basquiat to sell jewels is the most anti-Art thing I’ve ever seen https://t.co/i2c1EJWBqS
— battery taster extreme 🇵🇸 (@spoonspoon_) August 23, 2021
Basquiat wasn't the type of person or artist to approve of his pieces being used in an ad from multiple billionaires (uncontextualized, at that). His art was all about pain & beauty in low places, so, it comes across as a tone deaf & flippant flex on his legacy.
— Temperamental Pu$$y Juice (@Nezylon) August 23, 2021
But ArtNews reports there’s more to this campaign than reminding us how rich Jay-Z and Beyonce are. There’s a method to their madness.
The campaign is set to officially launch on September 2, followed by an accompanying print edition and film produced for the project. Visuals and additional media made for the campaign will be released throughout the year. As part of the collaboration with the Carters, Tiffany & Co. has pledged to give $2 million dollars to fund scholarship and internship programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Take that, haters! But seriously, I don’t care if they shoot a whole Tiffany’s movie with all of Basquiat’s paintings in the background because I can’t afford either one of them. Come and talk to me when they’re both wearing red polo shirts and khakis in front of the Target logo in a campaign called About Discounts. Then they’ll have my undivided attention.
Pic: Tiffany & Co.