Chicago-based photographer Kelli Connell makes the last stop on her nationally touring exhibition “Living With Modernism” at the Elmhurst Art Museum, running Jan. 24-April 26. Offering a look at relationships, identity and history through a queer lens, this is the largest exhibit of Connell’s work to date in the Chicago area.
The show brings together two series, “Pictures for Charis” and “Double Life.” Together they look at intimacy, identity and power through a queer feminist lens over time. Connell’s work responds to the legacy of two figures of modernism, photographer Edward Weston and architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
“I’ve always been interested in relationships,” Connell said. “’Double Life’ is about relationships too.”
The exhibition is curated by Executive Director and Chief Curator of The Elmhurst Art Museum Allison Peters Quinn.
Double Life
“Double Life” spans more than two decades and each image features two figures, both played by Connell’s longtime collaborator Kiba Jacobson. The focus is on intimate relationships.
“Sometimes one person is more masculine, more feminine. Sometimes they’re a caregiver or a caretaker,” Connell said. “A lot of it is about pushing against societal norms so people can be more free and fluid in their identity and relationships.”
For the Elmhurst Museum exhibit, Connell created new site-specific work inside the McCormick House, a residence designed by Mies. Eight new photographs were made in direct response to the space.
“What was most exciting for me was responding to the Mies house and thinking about how architecture shapes people and relationships,” Connell said.
The new photographs are titled after poems by Isabella Gardner, who lived in the McCormick House.
Pictures for Charis
“Pictures for Charis” takes its starting point from Weston’s photographs of writer Charis Wilson, his collaborator and partner in the ‘30s and ‘40s. The exhibit shows the series of 45 photographs by Connell made between 2004 and 2022, alongside original prints by Weston and excerpts from Wilson’s writing.
Connell said her views of Weston’s photography shifted as she began reading and researching Wilson, going down a self-described rabbit hole.
“I was intrigued by her,” said Connell, a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient just like Weston. “I wanted to know who this woman was.”
Connell felt connected to Charis, as she could relate to her experiences in love and loss.
“I learned about her through male writers who wrote about Weston and the women he photographed, through a male lens,” said Connell. “It changed the way I thought about Weston.”
Connell read Wilson’s writing and followed the routes Wilson and Weston traveled through the American West. However, Connell does not mimic Weston’s work. She and her former longtime partner, artist Betsy Odom, made road trips during academic summers, tracking down landscapes Wilson described and places where Weston photographed her. Sometimes they had to improvise when weather, time, or terrain got in the way.
Connell said Wilson was intent on telling her own story as Weston’s reputation changed over time. Researching Wilson revealed how myths can form when one voice dominates the narrative.
“I wasn’t just interested in the pictures of her it was her as a person,” Connell explained of her admiration for Wilson and wanting to get to know her. “I wanted to learn as much about her as I could and once I heard her voice [on recordings] she’s just hilarious.”
Time, Change and Reinterpretation
Across both series, Connell shows how photographs and the relationships behind them change in meaning over time.
“I look at these pictures now through a totally different lens than when I made them,” she said. “And I know that 20 years from now, they’ll change again.”
Ultimately, Connell hopes the exhibition encourages viewers to question how history is constructed and whose stories are preserved. She recommends spending time getting to know Wilson’s voice and writing alongside the photographs, noting that the exhibition opens up further when viewers understand who Wilson was beyond Weston’s images.
“I would hope more stories could be uncovered—not just about women, but about people of color, queer people,” she said. “So we keep questioning who gets to tell history. Everyone is living complicated but ordinary lives.”
Programs and Events
In addition to the exhibition, the Elmhurst Art Museum will host several public programs, including talks, signings, and workshops, which can be found on the museum’s website.
For more information, visit elmhurstartmuseum.org.