Marina Abromovich, Knut Bry and Ekerbergeparken Oslo (2013).
Image: Courtesy the Park Avenue Armory.

According to an email sent to art patrons of the Park Avenue Armory on November 19, artist Marina Abramović was rushed to the hospital Thursday afternoon at 4:09 pm.

“Marina Abramović has just been taken to the hospital in an emergency,” wrote Armory president and executive producer Rebecca Robertson in an email obtained by artnet News. “Out of respect for her, we will be postponing tonight’s dinner.”

The planned dinner was just a couple of weeks before the opening of a new performance with Abramović at the Upper East Side performance space.

Robertson did not respond to a request for comment.

Adding some confusion to the story was a response by the public relations team for the Park Avenue Armory, which denied, in an email to artnet News, that Abramović was taken to the hospital. “The planned dinner for the Armory’s Artistic Council was cancelled due to illness,” they wrote. “But we understand Ms. Abramović is feeling better today.”

“Marina Abramović has been traveling extensively this year which caused her to develop a blood pressure issue,” said Abramović’s dealer Sean Kelly in a phone call with artnet News. He also denied that she went to the hospital. “She just returned from an overseas trip and unfortunately had a recurrence of this condition which regrettably forced her to withdraw from the Park Avenue Armory patrons dinner. Marina was not rushed to the hospital. She is resting and will make a full recovery.”

Asked why Robertson would write that Abramović was taken to the hospital in an email to patrons if it wasn’t true, Kelly said that he didn’t know and couldn’t comment on that.

On December 7, the Armory is set to open a show in which pianist Igor Levit and Abramović will perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The piece is a “reimagining of the traditional concert experience,” according to a press release.

“Goldberg will transform the soaring Wade Thompson Drill Hall into a meditative environment and employ elements of the Abramović Method to craft an audience experience that transcends the rituals of contemporary daily life and invites a deep and personal engagement with Levit’s performance.”

Seven performances are planned between December 7–19.