I stopped by Civilian Art Projects over the weekend to view their current exhibition, Exquisite Corpse, which opened last Thursday.  Exquisite Corpse is a collaborative project curated by former Corcoran Photography students Jessica Cebra, Dave Gustine and Marissa Long.  This show explores a method invented by Surrealists that dates back to 1925.  According to the method, a group of collaborators compile a collection of words or images and each artist adds a piece (of his or her own) to the creation in sequence by either following a specified rule or by viewing only the end of what the previous person has produced.  Each of the three co-curators began the project by launching a ‘set’ or ‘sequence’ with his or her own photograph allowing words to be substituted by images. Twenty eight photographers and three sets of images are represented in Exquisite Corpse.

Once I entered the gallery I wasn’t sure which set of images to view first, so I started with the image next to the exhibition sign as that seemed to be the most logical place to begin.  This particular photograph is by Marissa Long and entitled “Little Swan”.  “Little Swan” captures the delicate and unassuming elegance of the animal.  A tiny figurine of a swan sitting atop a wooden table is the main focus of this picture.  Marissa Long currently lives and works in D.C. and has exhibited work in Delaware, D.C. and Italy. 

The next photograph in the sequence was done by Sarah Small and is called “Laura and the White Stoic Peacock (outtake)”.  Small’s photo juxtaposes the innocent beauty of a young girl against the beautiful purity of a white peacock.  While Long’s photograph of the swan figurine appears to be taken from a distance, Sarah Small’s “Laura” and her peacock appear to be so close to the surface of the photo that they take on an almost ethereal, mesmerizing quality.  Sarah Small is a New York based photographer whose work captures living subjects up close, often conveying a strong sense of intimacy.  Small’s photographs are exhibited around the globe and have been featured in numerous well known magazines such as Vogue, Rolling Stone and Life.  The title of the next piece caught my eye and somehow seemed appropriate to the theme of the show, “My Response to the Picture I Saw” by Avi Gupta.  This photograph presents an image within an image; a photograph of a computer with a photograph of a young girl displayed on the screen.  This image also captured the innocence of a young girl, but shown in a completely different environment than that of Sarah Small’s “Laura and the White Peacock (outtake)”.  Avi Gupta is an alum of the Corcoran College of Art and Design and is an exhibiting artist and photography editor for U.S. News and World Report. 

There are twenty five more images in Exquisite Corpse and I wish I could touch on all of them, but if I did I would have a novelette on my hands!  Exquisite Corpse tests the limits and exposes the imagination of twenty eight extremely accomplished photographers. It’s not everyday that a contemporary exhibition is based around a method originated by group of Surrealists eighty five years ago.  I remember studying this Surrealist practice in an art history class in college and was always curious to see what a collaborative body of work would look like when each artist was given such limited information with which to work.  I am happy to report that it was worth the wait!

Exquisite Corpse showing through July 3, 2010; Civilian Art Projects, 1019 7th Street, NW, 2001, 202-607-3804, www.civilianartprojects.com

Image: Eric Powell, "Exquisite Corpse", untitled, 2007, C-print, 16 x 20", Ed 1/3