Artist Jill Magid has transformed her solo exhibition at Various Small Fires in Los Angeles into a platform for her dealer Esther Kim Varet’s congressional campaign. The show, titled “Heart of a Citizen,” features a replica of the White House Press Briefing Room podium, which Kim Varet uses to deliver stump speeches. Other works include a neon sign quoting a stenographer’s note and concrete casts of Magid’s heart, inspired by the White House Rose Garden. Magid emphasizes the show is not an endorsement but an exploration of power, free speech, and democracy.
This exhibition matters because it blurs the boundaries between art, commerce, and politics, raising questions about campaign finance, institutional critique, and the role of artists in political discourse. By integrating a gallerist’s run for Congress as artistic material, Magid challenges traditional notions of neutrality in gallery spaces and highlights how art can directly engage with electoral power structures. The show also underscores the growing intersection of the art world with grassroots political activism.