The international art exhibition Desert X opened its fifth edition Saturday at sites across the Coachella Valley.
The exhibition, curated by artistic director Neville Wakefield and co-curator Kaitlin Garcia Maestas, explores the desert landscape through 11 installations by artists from Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
Participating artists include Sanford Biggers, Jose Dávila, Agnes Denes, Raphael Hefti, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Sarah Meyohas, Ronald Rael, Alison Saar and Muhannad Shono.
“Curated by the place it temporarily inhabits, Desert X reveals the landscape of the Coachella Valley as a canvas of real and imagined histories, narrating tales of displacement, sovereignty, and adaptation superimposed over visible testaments of time,” Garcia-Maestas said.
“The land of Desert X is no longer the mythical and endless expanses of the American West but has come to include the effects of our ever-growing human presence,” Wakefield said. “Artists continue to be inspired by the idea of unadulterated nature, but in its search they have also come to recognize that this is an idea and that the realities of the world we live in now are both more complex and contested. Time, light and space permeate every aspect of this work but so too does an urgency to find new sustainable approaches to living in an increasingly imperiled world.”
Desert X encourages visitors to follow the Leave No Trace guidelines by planning ahead, walking on designated paths, disposing of waste properly, respecting wildlife, not smoking and being considerate of other visitors.
The exhibits are free and will remain on view through May 11. Exhibition hours are generally from sunrise to sunset, however hours and access to installations may vary. The Desert X 2025 map of artist installations can be found at desertx.org and on the Desert X 2025 app.