Desert X installation view of Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger, 2021.
Photo: Lance Gerber
See the Most Jaw-Dropping Installations at This Year’s Desert X
Now open in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, the third edition of the international art exhibition explores the desert ‘as both a place and idea’
Through May 16, striking contemporary sculptures can be found dotted throughout Southern California’s hot and dusty Coachella Valley desert, about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles. The works were commissioned for the third edition of the international art exhibition Desert X, which opened last week and was curated by artistic director Neville Wakefield and co-curator César García-Alvarez.
For this year’s installment, the theme explores the desert “as a place and an idea,” focusing on the history of the people inhabiting it as well as the political, social, and cultural context that generates their memories. By honoring the landscape and its people, this year’s programming will “build on themes explored in previous iterations, looking deeper at ideas essential to the sustenance of our future and identity and the histories, realities, and possibilities of the Coachella Valley and its many communities,” shares Desert X.
Desert X installation view of Nicholas Galanin, Never Forget, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Some of the striking installations include Xaviera Simmons’s poignant billboards; Nicholas Galanin’s work titled Indian Land, a powerful twist on the iconic Hollywood sign; and Saudi artist Zahrah Alghamdi’s sculpture configured as a barricade 25 or more feet high using materials of what appear to be turf and cement-laden folded carpets.
Desert X is open through May 16, 2021 in Coachella Valley, California. See more photos of the exhibition below.
Desert X installation view of Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger. 2021 Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger. 2021 Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Ghada Amer, Women’s Qualities. 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Ghada Amer, Women’s Qualities. 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Zahrah Alghamdi, What Lies Behind the Walls. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Kim Stringfellow, Jackrabbit Homestead, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Kim Stringfellow, Jackrabbit Homestead, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Serge Attukwei Clottey, The Wishing Well, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Serge Attukwei Clottey, The Wishing Well (detail), 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot (sempiternal clouds), 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot (sempiternal clouds), 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Xaviera Simmons, Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band A Militia, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Xaviera Simmons, Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band A Militia, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Vivian Suter, Tamanrasset, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Desert X installation view of Vivian Suter, Tamanrasset, 2021. Photo: Lance Gerber
Cover: Desert X installation view of Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger, 2021.
Photo: Lance Gerber
