Only Connect

Heather Becker/Jeanne Gang_
Whitney Bedford/Anna Schachte_
Antonia Contro/Clara Lyon/Hannah Collins_
Megan Greene/Thalia Agosto_
Diana Guerrero-Maciá/Jesse Harrod_
Anne Lindberg/Ginny Threefoot_
Earth Art Creatives/Carolyn Ottmers_
Liliana Porter/Ana Tiscornia_
Lisa Solar/Liz Nielsen_
Dannielle Tegeder/Sharmistha Ray_

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Only Connect. This exhibition opens November 21 and continues through February 13, 2021. It will be viewable in person and by appointment at our gallery space located at 900 W. Washington BLVD, Chicago, IL and in our online viewing room. Click here to view the online exhibition. To request an appointment in person, please email info@secristgallery.com.

Only Connect is inspired by a short epigraph found on the title page of E.M. Forster’s novel Howards End as an essential reminder of the power of connection. In essence, this “connection” moves beyond the moral and social importance of the relationship between individuals and their backgrounds, and is something more private and essential: the personal and necessary value of connection and mutual understanding, regardless of time.  

This is an exhibition about the connections artists forge, the conversations they have, and the ways in which they lift each other up. The show presents ten pairings of artists who have connected in variety of diverse ways that express a desire to inspire and be inspired by each other. Some of these connections include a shared studio practice, material consciousness, conceptual underpinnings, sense of community or ethos, explorations outside the visual arts and educational connections.

This curated grouping composed of artists involved with Carrie Secrist Gallery presently and over the years examines connections and art that were made primarily during the disconnected time of 2020. With each collaborative effort, gender plays a role in their creative process but is not the basis on which the work should be considered. Only Connect aspires to present an art world that feeds off of shared inspiration, dialogue and support for each other's creative evolution.

Carrie Secrist’s curatorial statement for Only Connect can be downloaded here.

In addition to the exhibition, the gallery will be presenting a series of virtual webinars featuring each grouping, where the artists will be discussing among other things: how they connect, respective studio practice and creative life in the time of COVID-19. A list of dates and times can be found on our website here.

Image: Whitney Bedford, Veduta (Cole), 2020, ink and oil on linen on hybrid panel, 51.5 x 76 inches.