Currently in its 23rd year, the 2008 Corcoran print portfolio show brings a wide range of talent and interpretation on the theme You Won't Believe your Eyes to the walls at Civilian Art Projects (soon to be host of DCist Exposed.)

What started as a portfolio exchange to give Corcoran's students a professional experience has grown into a highly competitive program involving current students, faculty, alumna and visiting artists. Participants in the project create a run of 35 prints of their design where each of the students receives a copy of their fellow artist’s work. The entire portfolio goes into the collections of the printmaking department, the college's administration records, and one to the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

During the time spent on the out-of-the-classroom project, the students learn all the aspects of producing a gallery show; from matting and framing to promotion and layout of the invitations. The students involved also pick the theme for that year's portfolio.

This year's theme, You Won't Believe your Eyes, inspired a wide range of interpretation from topical reference points such as the war in Iraq to politics, as in Amy Zaiss' Union which depicts a pop art style portrait of a combination of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Other prints explore the carnival world and showcase grotesque imagery. Pierrette Montone’s Lady of Ephemeral Beauty shows a ghastly creature in a cheesecake pose with embossed wording, highlighting one of the many print techniques found in the portfolio.

The talent in the show covers a wide range from the mediocre to the brilliant. The highlights include Pepa Leon's Untitled (pictured) and Meaghan Busch’s Google: Tigers and Pigs Oh My! Leon’s print is a screen print of gray dots over a soft metallic gray green. A fog of opaque color outlines a diamond within the work, which sparkles ever so subtly. It is small, compact and powerful in its order.

Employing odd subject matter, Busch’s print draws you in for a second look. Her composition consists of a jungle setting with crisp greenery, using a smart simple Japanese texture and feel. In the midst of the jungle is a crouching tiger, obvious in its black and orange stripes. To its right is a pink pig, with a swath of tiger fur around its middle. Both stare at a ruby red slipper that sparkles in the foreground. When you follow the instructions of the title, the print comes full circle back to the main theme.

Georgia Deal, who runs the print portfolio project, agreed that this year's portfolio "Is a really strong collection…it looks like graduate level printmaking."

While there is no one “look” or style to the portfolio, viewing it as a whole is interesting and dynamic. And for the burgeoning art collector the print portfolio show is a steal as individual pieces are only $300; the entire portfolio of 31 prints is $2000.

Untitled courtesy of the gallery.

You Won’t Believe your Eyes is on view now through March 1. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Civilian Art Projects is located at 406 7th Street NW on the 3rd Floor.