Beyoncé’s Favorite Artists Are an Eclectic Group

Urs Fischer.
(Photographed by Robin Harper, with hair by Kim Kimble and makeup by Sir John).
Photo: Courtesy Garage.

We all know Beyoncé and Jay Z basically started the celebrity art collector trend (sorry Leo), but have you ever wondered which artists, exactly, are in Queen Bey’s court? Garage magazine’s app, which launched an interactive new feature today, has an exclusive interview with the pop icon, who reveals some surprising names.

“I’m really into the work of Kara Walker, Tracey Emin, Aaron Young, Ed Ruscha, and Donald Judd,” she says.

She’s also into Urs Fischer, who created a series of mixed-media portraits of her which will hit shelves March 14 as part of a special edition of the magazine.

We can’t help but wonder why she didn’t namedrop known favorites like Hank Willis Thomas, Richard Prince, and David Hammons in the interview, but we’ll chalk it up to time constraints. And we suppose it’s pretty obvious why Marina Abramovic got the shaft.

Urs Fischer.
(Photographed by Robin Harper, with hair by Kim Kimble and makeup by Sir John).
Photo: Courtesy Garage.

In the same interview, Beyoncé also admits to finding herself most drawn to painting and photography—fitting given that Fischer’s portrait of her meshes those two genres. “There’s a release and an immediacy there that helps me escape from my other projects,” she says.

While Jay Z is a champion of contemporary art in his song lyrics (see: “Picasso Baby”), it’s her mother, Tina Knowles, who Bey credits as an inspiration. It turns out, the Knowles matriarch is also a collector in her own right. “She always encouraged me from a young age to invest in art,” Beyoncé said.