‘Sample Book Pages 5’
The works in Jill Magi’s solo exhibition grew from her study of textiles — particularly the grid patterns of African strip-weaving, according to the gallery. The “Sample Book Pages” series was directly inspired by an 18th-century silk sample book from France. “The pages of slightly irregular rectangles and wild color combinations provided Jill with templates for abstract paintings,” the gallery’s statement explains.
‘If, then light’
Each indigo-painted shape of this monochromatic series mimics a window and the blue sky beyond. Each shape is also cut to the same dimensions as the pages of the North African Blue Qur’an — believed to be the only Qur’an colored with indigo dye and gold lettering.
‘Another Alphabet’
This work, according to the gallery, “channels the risk and artistic adventure that characterized the life of self-exiled Greek artist Jannis Kounellis.” The collage of cut-up surfaces marked by lines “that look like an alphabet or code,” express the idea that “language is a material in itself and there are many ways to read and write.”