Art Inspired By The Notorious B.I.G. To Cover Bed-Stuy Gallery Walls

It’s the Biggiest thing to hit Bed-Stuy in two decades.

A Brooklyn art gallery plans an art exhibit paying homage to the legacy of local hero Christopher Wallace — aka The Notorious B.I.G. — to mark the 20th anniversary of his West Coast murder.

“We definitely feel Biggie deserves that honor,” said Steven Dunn Jr., one of the two owners of The Bishop Gallery on Bedford, during a Wednesday walkthrough in the space.

Dunn and co-curator Erwin John, Bed-Stuy natives like Biggie, arranged for 15 artists to deliver works inspired by the platinum-selling hip hop icon shot to death at age 24.

The “20 BIG Years” show opens Friday and runs through Sunday. Biggie was shot four times and killed on March 9, 1997, in a drive-by slaying as the he left a party after the Soul Train Music Awards.

No one was ever arrested for the Los Angeles shooting.

Dunn said the tribute was inspired in part by a well-known portrait of Biggie wearing a bejeweled crown tilted slightly to the left.

The shot was taken by photographer Barron Claiborne just three days before the performer’s brazen murder.

The shutterbug was also “the first dude to put Biggie in a suit,” said Dunn. “Art immortalizes people in a certain way. What B.I.G. might not have known was the impact and inspiration he would have on art, fine art and visual art, from fashion to everything.

“Every realm of the arts, Biggie can say he’s touched.”

The chart-topping rapper once hustled and waxed flow-etically on the street corners of Bed-Stuy before becoming one of the biggest icons in the world of hip-hop.

The homage will also include a screening of “Bedford and Quincy,” with footage of Biggie hanging out in the neighborhood with local rap heroes like DJ 50 Grand and the Old Gold Brothers.

The title refers to the Bed-Stuy corner of Bedford Ave. and Quincy St., now home to a 38-foot tall mural of Biggie — sporting the familiar gold crown.

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