The Marina Abramović Institute, the body in charge of building a performance art centre in Hudson, New York, has issued an apology to both Jay Z and Abramović herself after it failed to inform the Serbian performance artist about a donation the rapper made to her proposed art institute.
Abramović had complained that she reprised her performance art piece The Artist is Present for the rapper’s 2013 video Picasso Baby on the condition that Jay Z would help her achieve her aim of building the institute, which will be dedicated to the study of the kind of long-duration performance art which Abramović has made famous. It has already been the subject of a Kickstarter fund, which quickly raised over $600,000.
Abramović told Spike magazine that the Jay Z collaboration was a “one-way transaction” and that she had felt used.
On Wednesday however, an art dealer and producer on the video said that Jay Z had made a large donation to the institute.
Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn – the founder of minimalist gallery Salon 94 – told Artnet she had a receipt which confirmed that Jay Z had given a “substantial donation”.
A subsequent press release from the Marina Abramović Institute admitted it failed to inform the artist of the donation. The short statement read: “Marina Abramović was not informed of Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter’s donation from two years ago.”
It continued: “We are sincerely sorry to both Marina Abramović and Shawn “Jay Z” Carter for this, and since then we have taken to [sic] appropriate actions to reconcile this matter.”
Jay Z has yet to comment on the saga.
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