Kanye West Curates With Richard Prince, Anish Kapoor, and Cecily Brown

It was only a matter of time.

Kanye West, rapper/fashion designer/husband to Kim Kardashian (see Annie Leibovitz and Kanye West Set Record Straight on Wedding Fiasco) apparently wants to add another title to his resume: curator.

With everyone from Miley Cyrus to James Franco styling themselves as a visual artist (see Miley Cyrus Takes Art Basel, Thanks to Jeffrey Deitch, and Why James Franco’s Cindy Sherman Homage at Pace Is Not Just Bad But Offensive), and big shots like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jay Z (see From Hollywood to the Art World, the New Celebrity Collectors) continually scooping up pricey artworks with abandon, art collecting is the new trendy diversion for those with money and power.

New York magazine reports that West is putting his skills to the test in the pages of CR Fashion Book, where he’s curated a spread that includes work by Richard Prince, Anish Kapoor, Paul McCarthy, and Cecily Brown. If the notion of “curating” a magazine spread of artworks seems strange to you, you’re not alone. But look at it this way: as long as Kanye’s self-proclaimed curatorial prowess stays confined to the pages of a magazine, it will be a lot easier for you to ignore.

In addition to Kanye’s selection of artworks (which were—shocker—chosen with the help of an art advisor, Dominic Teja Sidhu), he’s penned a rather angsty accompanying text: “To create an expression is close to innocence. Childhood is stolen from you with every judgment made, innocence stolen with it. You go into a room alone and try to collect the pieces of your life and meet your monster. Everyone has a monster that hunts them—monsters inside and outside. I have fought monsters. And have turned into a complete monster in the midst of the fight.”

And, thus, it appears the art world may have a new celebrity monster to contend with.

Kanye, if you’re reading this, we ask you to consider just sticking to arts patronage (see Kanye West Gives Kim Kardashian Nude Portrait as Wedding Gift). But please, stop destroying Birkin bags (see Kanye and Kim’s Baby North Uses Hermès Bag as Canvas).