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.