ExhibitionFebruary 25, 2021
Desert X 2021 Artists Announced
On February 16th Desert X announced the participating artists in its third edition of the site-specific, international art exhibition opening March 12–May 16, 2021 at sites across the Coachella Valley. Thirteen artists from eight countries will be presented in the exhibition curated by Artistic Director Neville Wakefield and Co-Curator César García-Alvarez. Desert X 2021 will be among the first art experiences in the region since widespread lockdowns, offering an outdoor experience that is free and open to the public.
Participating artists: Ghada Amer (born 1963, Cairo, Egypt, based in New York); Felipe Baeza (born 1987, Guanajuato, Mexico, based in New York); Judy Chicago (born 1939, Chicago, US. based in Belen, New Mexico); Oscar Murillo (born 1986, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, based in various locations); Eduardo Sarabia (born 1976, Los Angeles, US, based in Guadalajara, Mexico); Xaviera Simmons (born 1974, New York, US based in New York) and Vivian Suter (born 1949, Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Panajachel, Guatemala), among others.
Newly-commissioned projects 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. Imagining the landscape as both an amalgamation of natural forms and a terrain forged by people, the 2021 edition refuses the notion of the desert as homogenous entity. The projects explore many of the issues we face in these difficult times: the history of land rights, ownership and stewardship, the desert as border marked by narratives of migration, social justice and racial demarcations of the West, the gendered landscape and the role of women and children and the creation of new dialogues between regional and global desert experience.
“As much as the desert is a state of place, it is also a state of mind. Its borders are not singular but multiple, and it is defined as much by social geography as physical boundary,” said Artistic Director Neville Wakefield. “Desert X 2021 seeks to explore this idea of the desert as a place where the marginalized and migratory - whose voices and histories may have struggled to manifest within the dominant discourses of growth and development - can also be heard.”
“For Desert X 2021, we took our cues from the way deserts are formed, from the natural processes that weather their surfaces and expand their geographies, said Co-curator César García-Alvarez. “Acting upon this place, the projects seek to identify and uplift lesser known and complex stories of immeasurable impact through conversations between the lived experience of people here with those who came before them and the realities that we live in now. We refute the dichotomy of local versus global, and instead champion the nuances that connect both.”
For more information visit: Desert X
Participating artists: Ghada Amer (born 1963, Cairo, Egypt, based in New York); Felipe Baeza (born 1987, Guanajuato, Mexico, based in New York); Judy Chicago (born 1939, Chicago, US. based in Belen, New Mexico); Oscar Murillo (born 1986, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, based in various locations); Eduardo Sarabia (born 1976, Los Angeles, US, based in Guadalajara, Mexico); Xaviera Simmons (born 1974, New York, US based in New York) and Vivian Suter (born 1949, Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Panajachel, Guatemala), among others.
Newly-commissioned projects 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. Imagining the landscape as both an amalgamation of natural forms and a terrain forged by people, the 2021 edition refuses the notion of the desert as homogenous entity. The projects explore many of the issues we face in these difficult times: the history of land rights, ownership and stewardship, the desert as border marked by narratives of migration, social justice and racial demarcations of the West, the gendered landscape and the role of women and children and the creation of new dialogues between regional and global desert experience.
“As much as the desert is a state of place, it is also a state of mind. Its borders are not singular but multiple, and it is defined as much by social geography as physical boundary,” said Artistic Director Neville Wakefield. “Desert X 2021 seeks to explore this idea of the desert as a place where the marginalized and migratory - whose voices and histories may have struggled to manifest within the dominant discourses of growth and development - can also be heard.”
“For Desert X 2021, we took our cues from the way deserts are formed, from the natural processes that weather their surfaces and expand their geographies, said Co-curator César García-Alvarez. “Acting upon this place, the projects seek to identify and uplift lesser known and complex stories of immeasurable impact through conversations between the lived experience of people here with those who came before them and the realities that we live in now. We refute the dichotomy of local versus global, and instead champion the nuances that connect both.”
For more information visit: Desert X
