Early yesterday evening, Beyoncé posted a story to her Instagram profile showing an image of the coordinates for New York City’s Guggenheim Museum. Photos circulating online showed a projection on the building’s facade promoting the upcoming release of “Act 2: Cowboy Carter” and featuring a quote from the singer’s post earlier this week: “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
Only, the Guggenheim claims that it was unaware that Beyoncé would be using the museum to promote the project. “The Guggenheim was not informed about and did not authorize this activation,” shared Guggenheim representatives in a statement to Variety. “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 facade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition.”
Some fans pulled up to the location and posted images of a blank building facade to social media, suggesting there was no projection at all. Others claimed that it was projected for a short moment, or that images of the projection circulating online were altered to include the text. To make matters more confusing, earlier this morning, Guggenheim referenced Beyoncé on Instagram, posting an image of Franz Marc’s 1910 painting “Three Horses Drinking” along with the caption “This ain’t Texas,” referring to the opening lines from Beyoncé’s chart-topping new single “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Requests for comment to Beyoncé’s representatives went unanswered.
Beyoncé is a little more than a week away from the release of “Act 2,” dropping on March 29. News of the album came as a surprise when she put out a pair of singles—“Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”—during the Super Bowl last month. Earlier this week, she posted a long Instagram caption along with an alternative album cover, explaining that she began work on the project five years ago after she had an experience where she “did not feel welcomed.”
She was likely referring to a performance of “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards alongside the group then known as the Dixie Chicks. Her appearance was met with backlash on social media and in the country community, with some expressing displeasure that such a prominent spotlight was put on a pop artist at a country event.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote. “Act II is a result of challenging myself and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
