June 2025 AIR: Alex Wolfe
“I enjoy leading people to places that are often overlooked or even deemed undesirable”
Hey Alex! We’re so excited to have you in Chicago for this residency! To kick things off, what inspired you to start walking and use it as a central element of your artistic practice?
Walking has always been a part of my practice, but it wasn’t until 2018 that I gave myself permission to consider it a central element of my work. I realized I enjoyed running errands and exploring the city far more than locking myself away in a studio. Walking is the most intimate way to experience your surroundings. It’s a powerful tool for gathering material. Over time, I realized I was more interested in uncovering the landscape and sharing what I found than in producing work with my hands. Walking made sense. It’s both a process and a practice, where discovery and creation happen simultaneously.
You’ve said your work explores the impermanence of experience and the passage of time. How do these themes manifest in the physical objects that emerge from these temporary moments? What role does the act of creating these objects play in your exploration of impermanence?
Walking has always been a way for me to explore the memory and history embedded in the landscape. Writing and photography became natural extensions of this practice—tools to share and process my walks. Initially, I began creating memory boxes to translate the ephemeral experience of a walk into something tangible. What started as a desire to share a walk physically rather than digitally evolved into a way of archiving fleeting moments. These objects preserve memories that might otherwise fade, offering a tactile connection to the past. Be it a drawing, a series of photographs, or a found object, each piece acts as a physical trace of the ephemeral.
Your walking experiences are often participatory. How do you bring people into these experiences?
I started hosting group walks in 2022. Before that, most of my walks were solitary—walking was a deeply personal and introspective act for me. But I began to see its potential to bring people together in meaningful ways. It’s such an intimate way to connect, both with the landscape and with others. I also wanted to explore some questions I had about sharing an experience: how could the personal act of walking transform into something collective and participatory?
On these walks, I enjoy leading people to places that are often overlooked or even deemed undesirable—like Midtown Manhattan. Through movement, we inhabit these spaces more fully, uncovering their hidden beauty in unexpected details, like an old building lobby, a tucked-away park, or a quiet cafe in a church basement. The walks blend group exploration with elements of a guided tour, creating plenty of space for participants to share their own observations, stories, and insights. By the end, it often feels like we’ve built something together—a shared memory, a moment of collective discovery, or even a new friendship.
What do you hope participants gain from when they participate in the walks and how does their involvement affect the outcome of your work?
My hope is that participants walk away with a greater appreciation for their surroundings and the lived experience of moving through a place. By inviting them to slow down and pay attention to the details, they might notice things they’d otherwise overlook. There’s a certain comfort born out of walking in a group that allows for a deeper sense of curiosity and connection, not just with the environment but also with each other.
Participants play a crucial role in shaping the outcome of the walks. Their observations, stories, and energy bring new dimensions to the experience, often revealing perspectives I hadn’t considered. In that way, the walks become a kind of co-creation. Their involvement enriches my understanding of the space and often informs how I approach future walks or projects.
How do you think coming back to a place you once lived will change or influence your practice?
I left Chicago for New York City in 2016, but it’s where I first began to form my identity as an artist. It was the first city I called home after spending the first eighteen years of my life in rural Iowa. That transition shaped so much of how I see myself and my work. Chicago was where I learned the dance of living in a city—a place filled with formative experiences and personal memories.
Chicago is also part of the Midwest, which remains a key part of my identity and the way I understand the world. The Midwest will always feel like home, even though I’ve grown deeply rooted in New York City. There’s a grounded energy and familiar rhythm to Chicago that I’m excited to return to.
I’m curious to see how revisiting places I once knew will feel—how the city’s evolution and my own growth will intersect. While much has changed, some of my closest friends are still there, and Chicago continues to feel like a place where the past remains alive. I’m excited to uncover overlooked stories and moments with fresh eyes, bringing the perspective I’ve gained since leaving.
Alex Wolfe
Alex Wolfe is an artist from Des Moines, Iowa. His writing and photography are the result of documenting his movement, largely walking on foot, through the urban landscapes of the United States. Notable recent walks include a 180-mile trek from Brooklyn to Philadelphia, a 115-mile stroll across Los Angeles, and a 160-mile journey spanning the entire length of Long Island. He is the founder and former editor of Pedestrian, a magazine for people who like to walk and move. His work is collected by the New York Public Library and the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection. He has guest lectured at Princeton University, The Swiss Institute, and Parsons School of Design. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He resides in Brooklyn, NY.