Acclaimed performance artist Marina Abramovic has fallen out with Jay Z for ‘using’ her in the music video for his 2013 single, Picasso Baby.
The 99 Problems hitmaker’s 10-minute promo was inspired by Abramovic’s popular The Artist Is Present exhibition and film, staged at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which featured the veteran artist sitting at a table across from visiting strangers for hours.
In Jay Z’s performance art piece, he took over an art gallery, rhyming in 45-minute spurts before taking mini breaks, in front of members of the public and celebrity fans, like director Judd Apatow, Alan Cumming, Adam Driver, Taraji P. Henson and Rosie Perez.
Abramovic, who also briefly appeared, was personally thanked in the end credits of the Mark Romanek-directed video, but in a new interview with Spike Art Magazine, the artist claims the hip-hop star promised her more than just a ‘thank you’.
JAY Z – Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film from DERTV on Vimeo.
She alleges, “Jay Z adapted my work only under one condition: that he would help my institute, which he didn’t. He just completely used me. And that wasn’t fair. I was very p**sed.”
“In the end it was only a one-way transaction. I will never do it again, that I can say. Never. I was really naive in this kind of world. It was really new to me, and I had no idea that this would happen. It’s so cruel, it’s incredible. I will stay away from it for sure.”
Jay Z has yet to comment on Abramovic’s claims.
