WASHINGTON, DC.- redefined is the largest exhibition of modern and contemporary art from the Corcoran’s permanent collection since the founding of the Museum. It provides an unprecedented opportunity to experience many of the Museum’s most important works from the 1950s to the present. Featuring more than 180 objects in a range of media, including painting, prints and drawings, sculpture, photography, and media arts, redefined highlights the Corcoran’s historical role as a venue and repository for some of the most significant artistic achievements of the post-World War II era. The exhibition is on view at the Corcoran through January 2007.

redefined showcases the work of some of the most celebrated figures of modern and contemporary art. Included are paintings by Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn and Ellsworth Kelly, sculpture by Richard Artschwager and photographic works by Nan Goldin, Andres Serrano and Cindy Sherman. Multi-media works are also on view, including Loop (2000) by Jennifer Steinkamp and Jimmy Johnson.

A six DVD digital projection with sound, Loop was commissioned by the Corcoran for its neoclassical rotunda. The piece interacts with the specific space of the gallery to create a transformative experience for visitors. Dancing images of transparent colored ropes move to music that chimes across the domed ceiling from shifting and indeterminate locations. The effect is as enchanting as it is disorienting, as the walls dissolve and the room pulses with motion and excitement.

The exhibition is organized thematically rather than chronologically so that new interpretations of the works and their relationship to one another can unfold. “Creating and interpreting art is a process of definition and redefinition,” says Jonathan P. Binstock, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. “Modern art redefined what came before it, and contemporary art is often engaged with redefining modernism. As handy as the general categories of ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ may be, the differences between them are not always clear-cut. This exhibition explores this complicated relationship. Through pairings and juxtapositions of artworks, it calls attention to the visual and thematic connections and distinctions among modern and contemporary art. redefined is an occasion to consider how we understand these two terms and what their significance might be for the future.”

WILLIAM CHRISTENBERRY - The work of one of Washington’s own, William Christenberry, is featured in a gallery showcasing photography and sculpture from his more than 40-year career. From Kodak Brownie color photographs of the 1960s that established Christenberry as a leader in the field of color photography to his recent monumental Dream Building (2004), the artist tackles the richness and complexity of his Alabama roots, and of Southern society and history. Coleman’s Cafe (I) of 1982 is a scaled-down representation of a rural Alabama eating establishment that Christenberry visited many times. The highly detailed sculpture shows the cafe as it existed in the late 1960s. Also on view is a grid of 16 photographs, a new acquisition to the Corcoran’s permanent collection, documenting the progressive dilapidation of the actual building through the years, from 1967 to 1996. Juxtaposed with Christenberry’s art are important works by another pioneer of color photography, William Eggleston. Christenberry and Eggleston have had a relationship of friendship and mutual influence since the 1960s, when both lived in Memphis, Tennessee.

redefined: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection is organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and funded by The President’s Exhibition Fund. Related educational programming has been made possible in part by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation FUNd.