Beyoncé’s promotion for her highly anticipated country album, Cowboy Carter, continued on Wednesday night with a projection of text and promotional imagery on the façades of some very important art institutions.
Social media posts show that in New York City, the Whitney, the New Museum, the Museum of Arts and Design, and the building that houses the Metronome, were all emblazoned with the image of the Texas native dressed in a red-white-and blue cowgirl getup, holding a giant American flag in one hand and reins in the other, astride a white horse. The image can also be seen on screens in what seems to be train stations in Italy. NYC’s Guggenheim Museum received a slightly different treatment, lit up with the message “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album”—words that previously appeared as a caption on Queen Bey’s Instagram—with the album’s name and release date along the building’s curved façade.
The Guggenheim provided the following statement in response to AD’s request for comment: “The Guggenheim was not informed about and did not authorize this activation. However, we invite the public—including Beyoncé and her devoted fans—to visit the museum May 16–20 when we present projections by artist Jenny Holzer on the façade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition.”
Per an Instagram post on Thursday, the Guggenheim provided a subtle shoutout to the superstar in a caption alongside a Franz Marc piece depicting horses, which kicks off with the opening lyrics of “Texas Hold ’Em”: “This ain’t Texas. 🤠”
No statement has been released from team Beyoncé taking credit for the light-up treatment or explaining why these buildings were chosen for the unique album promotion, but we do know that the legendary singer is a huge art enthusiast. In 2018, she and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, shot the video for their single “Apesh*t” in Paris’s Louvre museum. “Beyoncé and Jay-Z visited the Louvre four times in the last 10 years,” a museum spokesperson told artnet News back then. “During their last visit, in May 2018, they explained their idea of filming,” the spokesperson continued. “The deadlines were very tight but the Louvre was quickly convinced because the synopsis showed a real attachment to the museum and its beloved artworks.”
Beyoncé paid homage to art legend Frida Kahlo with her Halloween costume in 2014. In the 2017 announcement of her pregnancy with twins Sir and Rumi, the singer referenced Kahlo again, Botticelli’s outstanding 15th-century painting The Birth of Venus, and traditional painted images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. In 2013, Beyoncé’s video for her single with Drake, “Mine” directly references the Italian Renaissance sculpture “Madonna della Pietà” by Michelangelo.
Cowboy Carter is set to be released on March 29, and is said to be the Texas native’s first country album—though, depending on who you ask, its genre is better described as simply “Beyoncé.”
