VSF proudly announces Heart of a Citizen, Jill Magid's first solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition will open on Thursday, May 22nd from 6-8PM during which time Esther Kim Varet will inaugurate The Platform.
A Town Hall event featuring Esther Kim Varet on The Platform will be held on June 12th at 6:30PM.
Jill Magid is an artist, writer and filmmaker living in New York City. Her work deals with the emotional, philosophical, and contractual aspects of relationships between people and the institutions set up to protect them, including intelligence agencies, police, corporations, artist estates, the law, and, most recently, politics. Working within such systems, Magid makes use of vulnerabilities and loopholes to interact with - and shape the behavior of - people who work inside them.
March 11, 2025
Esther,
Please see my updated show proposal below.
In light of the current state of the market and your shift in focus from the gallery to your congressional run, I am paring down the show to three works: the neon sign and concrete hearts in the garden, and a platform in the gallery.
You noted that my work is most powerful when it responds to a site or situation. For this reason I am integrating your run for office as a material of the work. The headline “Art dealer Esther Kim Varet launches bid for California’s 40th Congressional District” perfectly encapsulates the novel intersection of your dual identities.
Most of my work will be installed in the garden. The 15’ neon sign, Stenographer’s Note: [At this point, a gust of wind rustled the trees in the Rose Garden.] will hang on the garden wall. I’ve decided to scatter the dozen cast-concrete facsimiles of my heart, collectively entitled The Rose Garden, outside on the gravel, rather than on the gallery floor. Trump’s recent proposal to pave the White House Rose Garden makes the proximity of these works especially prescient.
Inside the gallery, I will construct The Platform.
