Artinfo.com

"What's On in DC: Photo and Video Edition"

By Danielle O'Steen
November 14, 2007

excerpted

Next Generation

D.C.-based artist Kathryn Cornelius is a descendant of the "WACK!" generation, one of a line of women still proving that performance can be fine art. On view through December 22 at Curator’s Office, a wee space in the 1515 14th St. gallery building, is her latest exhibition, "Kathryn Cornelius: Common Ground," featuring large-scale photographs and two video installations. In one video, Return, Cornelius appears blindfolded and swathed in what looks like a giant white towel, her arms held at her sides in a meditative stance. She’s slowly walking backward, and as the camera pans out, it's evident that she's on a treadmill. This is an artist with a sense of humor.

Her photographs employ that same dry wit and performative elements as well. In her Reach series, the artist depicts herself occupying various natural settings; barefoot and in a black dress she attempts to communicate through a tin-can phone, the other end of which always sits among the elements, idle and alone. Jeffry Cudlin, director of exhibitions at the Arlington Arts Center, wrote in the show’s pamphlet: "Cornelius invents a different sort of persona, one that is lost somewhere in the natural landscape or in the void of an accelerated digital age."

Another shot shows the barely visible silhouette of the artist's body against a sweeping mountain view in Iceland. The piece falls between performance and photography, the dramatic vistas playing second fiddle to Cornelius's study of the human condition.

The exhibition is on view from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, to Saturday, December 22, at Curator’s Office, 1515 14th St. NW. Free. (202) 387-1008.