Kelli Connell

Kelli Connell
Born1974 (age 51–52)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
EducationTexas Woman's University
Known forPhotography
MovementContemporary
Surrealist

Kelli Connell (born 1974) is an American contemporary photographer. Connell is known for creating portraits, which may appear as self-portraits. Her work is held in the collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Dallas Museum of Art.[better source needed]

Early life and education

Kelli Connell was born in 1974 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Connell took her first photography class as a junior in high school, and was influenced early on by the work of Roni Horn, Francesca Woodman, and Larry Sultan. She received her BFA in Photography and Visual Arts Studies at the University of North Texas. In 2003, Connell received her Masters in Fine Arts in Photography and a minor in Art history from Texas Woman’s University.

Artistic career

Connell became a photographer to explore how photography can raise questions. In 2011, Decode Books released her first monograph, Double Life, in which she presented 36 color photographs of two young women occupied in their day to day activities of pleasure and reflection. Double Life seeks to question ideas of identity, gender roles, and expectations made by society on the individual. The series, which depicts a woman in a romantic relationship with herself, shows the "couple" having intimate and private moments in their lives. Connell uses her art to define the multiple sides of the self in the overall human experience. The portraits are also a case of identity. Connell worked with the same model over a series of years to produce the work.

Until 2025, she served as a professor at Columbia College Chicago, where she taught, mentored, and "established herself as part of an important group of Chicago photographers exploring a distinctive brand of psychological portraiture."

Collections

Group Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

Interviews

Publications

Personal life

Connell is married to sculptor Betsy Odom.

References

  1. ↑ Kelli Connell (2007). "Bio & Resume". Kelli Connell. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ Leo Costello. "Kelli Connell: Double Life". Art Lies. Retrieved January 22, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. 1 2 Martha Schwendener (2007). "Art in Review; Kelli Connell". Arts. New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  4. ↑ Christopher Harrity (2012). "Artist Spotlight: Kelli Connell". Photography. The Advocate. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "Kelli Connell | Museum of Contemporary Photography". www.mocp.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Kelli Connell and the Intimate Other". In the In-Between. March 8, 2013.
  7. ↑ MacMillan, Kyle (January 22, 2026). "Photographer Kelli Connell steps into the frame with expansive Elmhurst show". WBEZ. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Giggle, 2002". columbusmuseum.org. January 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Giggle - DMA Collection Online". www.dma.org.
  10. ↑ "Convertible Kiss | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org.
  11. ↑ "Carnival". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Museum of Contemporary Photography". www.mocp.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Kelli Connell Head to Head". mfah.org.
  14. 1 2 "Square Space" (PDF). static1.squarespace.com. February 11, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Living with Modernism Kelli Connell's Pictures for Charis and Double Life". Elmhurst Art Museum. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis". High Museum of Art. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Kelli Connell". LENSCRATCH. February 18, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Kelli Connell: Photographs". kcad.ferris.edu. Retrieved September 8, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  19. ↑ "Kelli Connell – PhotoWork Foundation". photowork.foundation. February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Q&A: Kelli Connell". Strange Fire. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  21. ↑ Maloney, Meghan (March 8, 2013). "Kelli Connell and the Intimate Other". In the In-Between. Retrieved January 9, 2020.