A Danish artist who was given a pile of cash by a museum in northern Denmark to create a piece for its exhibition on labor conditions two years ago submitted two empty canvases — titled Take the Money and Run. The exhibit caused a stir.
A Danish court ruled last week that Jens Haaning has to repay 492,549 kroner ($69,894 ) to Kunsten Museum in Aalborg for having violated his contract. His lawyer, Peter Schønning, said that the contemporary artist is appealing the ruling and declined further comment.
The museum had commissioned Haaning in 2021 to recreate two of his earlier pieces featuring bank notes attached to canvases representing the average annual wage in Denmark and Austria.
Instead, he submitted two empty canvases for the exhibition, entitled Work It Out, saying the artwork represented his current work situation and kept the money.
Along with giving him the money in euro and kroner banknotes for the art pieces, the museum also paid him 25,000 kroner ($6565) for his labour in creating the artwork.