Elena del Rivero: Home Suite
July 12–November 16, 2008

Elena del Rivero’s art inhabits the boundary between domestic space and public activity, between experience and memory, and between the desire for control and the surrender to chance. As part of its ongoing series of exhibitions showcasing the work of contemporary and emerging artists, the Corcoran will present two related installations by Del Rivero, [Swi:t] Home, 2000–2001 (on view through September 21), and [Swi:t] Home: A Chant, 2001–2006 (on view through November 16). In both, she uses the medium of paper to explore the passage of time and the ways in which daily routine and large-scale events intersect to shape our ideas about place and home.

Richard Avedon
Portraits of Power
September 13, 2008–January 25, 2009

Richard Avedon (1923–2004), America’s pre-eminent portraitist and fashion photographer, photographed the faces of politics throughout his career. As the country enters the next presidential election season, the Corcoran will bring together Avedon’s political portraits for the first time. This exhibition will explore the taxonomy of politics and power by juxtaposing images of elite government, media, and labor officials with counter-cultural activists and ordinary citizens caught up in national debates.

Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power will include approximately 250 photographs from the 1950s through the artist’s death in 2004, displayed chronologically and grouped within Avedon’s specific editorial projects. A major catalogue, published by Steidl, will accompany the exhibition.