16

MONDAY

At 901 E St. NW, a first-floor office lobby with metal detectors and a sea of polished granite provides an odd setting for the Zenith Gallery’s soft and cuddly textile art show, “Thread.” And if the venue is a bit of a misfire, so are most of the 16 featured works, which exist somewhere on the spectrum between fine art and, say, the employee-produced sample projects you might see in a strip-mall craft store. Joan Konkel is the clear winner here, if only comparatively. She wraps canvases in gauzy layers of painted cloth netting; they ripple and vibrate, creating queasy op-art grids that migrate as the viewer moves past. In Samurai’s Daughter, Konkel creates waves of billowing metal mesh bound with a vertical strip of undulating polished aluminum, providing the look of Frank Gehry gift wrap. Even so, Konkel’s contribution can’t save “Thread” from smacking of kitschy home décor. The exhibition is on view by appointment at Zenith Gallery, 901 E St. NW. Free. (202) 783-2963. (Jeffry Cudlin)