Jay Z Showed Marina Abramovic the Receipts
The most definitive way to win an argument is to show the damn receipts—figuratively or, in the case, of Jay Z’s absurd feud with conceptual artist Marina Abramovic, literally.
In an interview published yesterday, Abramovic alleged that Jay Z had negotiated her appearance in his “Picasso Baby” video—which was inspired by Abramovic’s performance “The Artist is Present”—by promising a donation to her eponymous institute, but had failed to follow through. Abramvoic said she was “pissed” and felt “used.”
Today, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, the director of the “Picasso Baby” video, spoke to artnews.net about the very literal receipt provided to Jay Z upon his donation:
“Thank you for your donation,” says a receipt from the Hudson, New York institute, according to New York dealer and “Picasso Baby” video producer Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn of Salon 94, who read parts of the document to artnet News over the phone Wednesday morning.
The receipt is marked with the number W984804 and acknowledges a substantial donation, Greenberg Rohatyn said.
In a statement, the Marina Abramovic Institute said that Abramovic herself had not been informed about the donation and that “appropriate actions” had been taken to reconcile the matter.
Marina Abramovic Institute apologizes to Jay Z (and Marina Abramovic) for saying he didn’t donate for “Picasso Baby” pic.twitter.com/W1dpxPacaI
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 20, 2015