Discussion: Aden Kumler and Jill Magid

For a series of public programs, artist Jill Magid invited scholars from three different fields — anthropology, political theory, and art history—to share their perspective on her exhibition Tender: Balance and join her in conversation about her work and theirs.

On May 20th, Magid spoke with art historian Aden Kumler, Professor of Art History at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and a former professor at the University of Chicago. Kumler’s research and writing is anchored by in her interest in how the material conditions of life shape possibilities for thought, imagination, and action, going back to the Middle Ages. In her contribution to the forthcoming catalogue for Tender: Balance, Kumler draws out a rich history of modifying currency, from the interventions of British suffragettes to US Abolitionists, and the many ways pennies are a complex cultural, political, and aesthetic form.