Olney Gleason opens Jill Magid exhibition exploring White House Rose Garden symbolism

Magid stages five decades of presidential performance as a single theatrical event.

NEW YORK, NY.— Jill Magid's Notice of a Citizen considers the ambiguous relationship between a citizen and the presidency through a series of sculptures, neon works, and drawings. On view at Olney Gleason from June 11, 2026, the exhibition draws on the forms, language, and objects that structure public appearances in the White House Rose Garden - historically referred to as "the people's garden." Notice of a Citizen anticipates the release of the artist's career-spanning monograph, With Full Consent, (September 2026; Creative Time and Dancing Foxes Press).

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In Notice of a Citizen, Magid stages five decades of presidential performance as a single theatrical event, and the Rose Garden's ubiquitous, yet shifting image - so resonant in the American imagination - is made visible as a construction.

The Platform Step (2026) is a partial reproduction of the West Terrace steps. On the widest limestone step, designed for presidential addresses, rests a bronze cast of the artist's heart. A chorus of neon sculptures titled Public Response is suspended from the gallery's ceiling. Bracketed words and phrases noted by White House stenographers - [Applause], [Laughter], [Unintelligible] - mark the presence of an audience that is heard but not seen. Arranged across the gallery, they register a public over the artist's lifetime.

In Notice of a Citizen (Presidential Documents) (2026), Magid presents a selection of government documents co-signed by the artist using engraved pens. In a related work, she adopts the language of presidential proclamation-"NOW, THEREFORE, I"-to write herself into the record by hand. The drawings follow the logic of the state: that official language can both describe and produce a subject.

Other works draw directly from materials associated with the White House and its vendors. American Time (2026), an institutional clock used to synchronize time across federal buildings, is cut cleanly in two. In collaboration with the former head of the White House Calligraphy Office, Magid presents new drawings of public gatherings in the Rose Garden. NewGen Independence® and NewGen Freedom®-cultivars developed for the White House Rose Garden before entering public circulation-structure the space alongside ionic columns sourced from the White House Gift Shop, each supporting a bronze heart, titled Heart of a Citizen.

From April 27 to June 16, 2026, Magid presents Pooler Room at Mister Fahrenheit, New York, a site-responsive exhibition that layers the histories of the White House press pool and the gallery's former life as a swimming pool. The artist is also included in the group show Body Fragments at The Power Station, Dallas, Texas from April 19 to June 21, 2026.