Waymark

Waymark calls on the history of Comfort Station as a site of waiting, not a destination in itself but a place to keep warm between stages of a journey. Timed to coincide with the arrival of cold weather in Chicago, the exhibition is organized around a winter clothing drive. Visitors are invited to intervene on the installation by hanging donations on a structure of coat racks at the center of the room, displayed alongside sculptural pieces that use clothing to imagine some of the people who have passed through this space in the century since its construction. These works form a dialogue with a series of altered photographs and objects that deal with authority, frustration, and artificial barriers.

The show welcomes audiences to return for free events featuring soup, performance, and conversation. At the end of the month, both the clothing used to create the installation and the items donated by visitors will be distributed to community members in need. By taking this form, the project asks whether an exhibition can leverage its visibility to produce material effects for people who may never see it.

Rob Croll (b. 1993; Asheville, NC) is an artist, writer, and educator living in Chicago. His work moves between photography, installation, and performance to examine the politics of space and the unstable relationships between landscape, body, architecture, and image. Drawing from a background in improvised music, he applies the idea of extended technique to the camera, often purposefully misusing the technologies and materials of photography in search of concrete ways to represent abstract ideas.

Croll holds a BA from Amherst College and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded the James Weinstein Memorial Fellowship. He has exhibited and performed both locally and internationally and has recently attended residencies in Italy, Germany, and the United States. Alongside his own artistic practice, Croll has worked for several years as a Spanish–English translator and editor, with a focus on contemporary Latin American literature.