Promotions for Beyoncé’s upcoming Cowboy Carter album made its way onto New York City museums Wednesday night, nearly a week ahead of its highly-anticipated release.
Advertisements for the album, which is set to drop March 29, were seen projected on several museums, including the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, New Museum and the Museum of Art and Design.
However, Guggenheim shared in a statement with ARTnews that the institution “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 facade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition.”
The promo displayed on the outside of the Guggenheim Museum featured the phrases “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” as well as the album’s title and release date. The lines reference the Grammy-winning singer’s Instagram post earlier this week, where she got candid about what led to the creation of Act II: Cowboy Carter after she previously did not feel “welcomed” in the country music genre.
On Wednesday, Beyoncé hinted at the new album promotions when she posted the coordinates of the Guggenheim Museum on her Instagram Story. The other museums reportedly had the Cowboy Carter cover image projected on their building exteriors.
Fans quickly took to social media to share photos of the advertisements, which Guggenheim also acknowledged early Thursday morning by sharing one post on its official Instagram account and adding, “Hey @beyonce! [bee emoji].”
Some fans also speculated the album projection outside the Guggenheim Museum was connected to its ongoing exhibition titled “Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility,” which presents “more than 100 works by a group of 28 artists, the majority of whom are Black and more than half of whom are women.”
Earlier this week, another famous NYC building — the Empire State Building — also signaled that it was ready for Cowboy Carter by responding to Beyoncé’s social media promo with a cowboy hat photoshopped on top of the Empire State Building.
Act II: Cowboy Carter is a continuation of her record-breaking 2022 album Renaissance.
