Lot Essay
Jill Magid lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. She studied Fine Art at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and received a Masters of Science in Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. She was a resident artist at the Rijksacademy in Amsterdam 2000-02. Working in a variety of media, including literature, video, photography, sculpture and performance, Magid seeks intimate relations with impersonal structures. She is intrigued by hidden information, being public as a condition for existence, and intimacy in relation to power, manipulation, and observation. Intrinsic to the nature of her work is the establishment of a bond with the individuals she chooses as her subject matter. This association often evolves into an intense, personal exploration of herself, her subjects, and the organization of which they are a part. In her acclaimed recent project Article 12 at Stroom, The Hague and the Dutch Secret Service (2008), she researched 'the human face' of the secret service. Other recent solo's were at the Centre D'Arte Santa Monica, Barcelona, Gagosian Gallery, New York, sparwasser hq, Berlin (all 2007). Groupshows with her work were on view at ICI and Artists Space, New York (2008), FRAC, Lorraine (2007), Museum of Contemporary Arts Taipei (2006) and the Liverpool Biennial (2004). In 2005 she exhibited at de Appel in On Patrol.