Desert X

Sterling Ruby, SPECTER (2019). © Sterling Ruby.

When you hear the name Coachella you’d be forgiven for your mind leaping to one thing; the famous annual Coachella music festival. But the Coachella Valley is also making waves on the contemporary art scene as the home of Desert X, a biennial contemporary art show now in its second edition. Desert X was founded in 2015 ‘to bring the finest international artists to the Coachella Valley to create art, engage viewers and focus attention on the valley’s environment.’ The first edition was held in 2017.

Running February 9 to April 21, 18 artists have created site-specific installations in an area spanning 55 miles, influenced by the varied, often barren landscape, its people, history, architecture and economics in an effort to explore how art behaves outside of institutional walls. Neville Wakefield, the Desert X artistic director, said, “What’s exciting about a site-specific show, which is what this is, is that really the place is the curator. The place creates and curates the objects, and I think the experiences.”

Read the Artnews Article here.