The Proposal
September 9–December 10, 2016
800 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, California 94133
United States
Jill Magid: The Proposal
Walter and McBean Galleries
For the past three years, artist Jill Magid has staged an undying effort that questions the ownership of Mexican architect Luis Barragán’s (1902–88) professional archive by the Barragan Foundation, run under the auspices of Swiss furniture corporation Vitra. Through this work, Magid asks, “What happens to an artist’s legacy when it is owned by a corporation? And what if a corporation leverages copyright law to hide an artist’s work? Who can access it? Who can’t?”
The project, which galvanizes efforts between Barragán’s descendants, the Mexican Government, international arts institutions, attorneys, and many others has reached a climactic moment—The Proposal offers the gift of a diamond grown from Barragán’s ashes in exchange for the return, and public access to his professional archive in Mexico.
The body for the body of work.
Read Alice Gregory’s feature about The Proposal at The New Yorker.
Watch the Field of Vision trailer.
See the recent Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen exhibition through which Magid made the proposal public in Switzerland.
Get the Sternberg Press book.
The Proposal is commissioned by San Francisco Art Institute. The exhibition is curated by Hesse McGraw, SFAI Vice President for Exhibitions and Public Programs, and organized with Katie Hood Morgan, Assistant Curator and Exhibitions Manager.
The Walter and McBean Galleries, established in 1969, present exhibitions at the forefront of contemporary art practice. The gallery serves as a laboratory for innovative and adventurous projects and commissions new work from emerging and established artists. Together, SFAI’s exhibitions and public programs catalyzes the creative processes of its student-artists and thinkers, and creates intimate connections between the SFAI community and the public.
Related film
A documentary about The Proposal will premiere in late 2016. Field of Vision, a filmmaker-driven visual journalism film unit created by Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack, and Charlotte Cook, commissioned the documentary, which is directed by Magid, and filmed and produced by Jarred Alterman.
Publication
The Proposal is accompanied by the release of the next volume of the Critical Spatial Practice book series. It is edited by Nikolaus Hirsch, Carin Kuoni, Hesse McGraw, and Markus Miessen, and features contributions by Leonardo Díaz Borioli, Nikolaus Hirsch, David Kim, Jill Magid, Daniel McClean, Hesse McGraw, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, and Ines Weizman. Jill Magid: The Proposal, published by Sternberg Press, is funded in part by Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, The New School, and SFAI.
Events
The Proposal book launch
Wednesday, September 14, 6:30–8pm
The New School, Vera List Center for Art and Politics
Wollman Hall, 66 West 12th Street, 5th Floor, New York
Participants
Nikolaus Hirsch, Editor, Critical Spatial Practice series, Sternberg Press; Jill Magid, 2013-2015 Vera List Center Fellow; Hesse McGraw, SFAI; Daniel McLean, head of art and cultural property law, Howard Kennedy LLP, London; Cuauhtémoc Medina, Chief Curator, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Jorge Otero-Pailos, Associate Professor and Director of Historic Preservation at Columbia University
SFAI fall 2016 public programs
Nick Sousanis
Friday, September 9, 4:30pm
Pablo D’Antoni
Friday, September 16, 4:30pm
Zoe Crusher
Tuesday, September 20, 7pm
Thomas Hirschhorn
Friday, September 23, 4:30pm
Presented in partnership with swissnex, San Francisco
Huey Copeland
Friday, September 30, 4:30pm
Geoffrey Farmer
Tuesday, October 4, 7pm
Brad Kahlhamer in conversation with Gary Garrels
Tuesday, October 11, 7pm
Presented in partnership with Headlands Center for the Arts
Howard Fried
Tuesday, October 25, 7pm
Presented in partnership with Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Diana Shpungin
Friday, October 28, 4:30pm
Koki Tanaka
Tuesday, November 1, 7pm
Presented in partnership with the Asian Art Museum
Gender in Translations, After Hours
Friday, November 4, 4:30pm
Presented in partnership with Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US
Andrei Codrescu
Tuesday, November 8, 7pm
Dara Birnbaum
Tuesday, November 15, 7pm
Yung Jake
Friday, November 18, 4:30pm
Presented in partnership with the Kadist Art Foundation
Johanna Burton
Friday, December 2, 4:30pm
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Media contact
Nina Sazevich, Public Relations
T 415 752 2483 / nina [at] sazevichpr.com
*Jill Magid, The Proposal (detail), 2016. Uncut, 2.02 carat, blue diamond with micro-laser inscription “I am wholeheartedly yours,” silver ring, ring box, documents. Setting design: Anndra Neen. Courtesy of the artist; LABOR, Mexico City; RaebervonStenglin, Zurich and Galerie Untilthen, Paris. Photo: Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen/Stefan Jaeggi.
