Art fans trying to figure out the truth

Fauxtography, an exhibit co-curated by Greg Kochen, Jyl Kelley, and B.J. Hollars, features historical photos combined with contemporary vignettes written by Hollars, a UW-Eau Claire English professor. Kochen, UW-Eau Claire’s special collections archivist, and Kelley, an art professor, began piecing the project together after a donation of 19th and 20th century photographs of Wisconsin by Daniel Nelson, who was an amateur photographer from Eau Claire. In 2014, Kellen and her photography students viewed a show called Archive as a River at the Watrous Gallery in Madison. That show was a series of photo panels accompanied by text by Paul Vanderbilt, an archivist and photographer. The show’s innovative blend of old photography with fictional text inspired Kelley and fascinated her students. “The students were really hyped about it, and I thought: Let’s get it to come here,” said Kelley. Kochen and Kelley decided to combine Daniel Nelson’s work with that of Charles Van Schaick, a 19th-century professional photographer from Black River Falls. Combined, they felt their worked enhanced the scope of the show. So when considering who could write the vignettes, they thought: Who better than a local author like Hollars? His fascination with Van Schaick and the limits of fact and fiction led to one of his books, Dispatches from the Drownings. “Often times we don’t even know the names of the people in the photos, so viewers are sort of left to make up the stories in their minds if they choose to,” said Hollars. “I think the interplay of words and photo allows viewers to go a little deeper.” Says Kelley: “I think it’s a way of reaching back into the past and creating stories in the present.” Fauxtography, which is displayed alongside Archive as a River, opened Nov. 3 and will be on display at the Foster Gallery until Nov. 23. The community is welcome to view the photos with their companion texts or listen to an audio version of the text with headphones. 

Fauxtography • On display now until Nov. 23 • Foster Galley, Haas Fine Arts Center UW-Eau Claire • www.uwec.edu/art/foster/