Conceived as a story in multiple chapters, Jill Magid: Tender focuses on two parts of a larger project by the artist in which she explores the circulation of pennies against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Tender, a public artwork in New York produced by Creative Time, and Tender: Balance, an exhibition at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Magid both observes intimate financial and social transactions and delves into economic systems that are harder to see, intervening in the flows of currency in subtle, poetic ways.

Along with visuals from these two parts of the project, the catalogue offers insight on Magid’s extensive research process in three new essays that provide greater social and art historical context for her work. In their contribution, Claire Bishop and Nikki Columbus consider how Magid’s process makes wide-ranging connections to create a constellation of ideas. Jamilah King addresses the ongoing shift toward a cashless economy and who is left behind, while Aden Kumler explores histories of modifying currency. The book culminates in a conversation between the artist and curators Justine Ludwig and Karsten Lund, in which they reflect on the project’s conceptual touchstones and on events contemporary to the work.

Published by the Renaissance Society, Chicago, in association with the University of Chicago Press. Clothbound, 175 pages. 98 color, 6 halftones. 9 x 11 in.

Detail Jill Magid, Glass Pattern Penny, 2021. Courtesy of Useful Art Services.