Desert X 2023: Big Visions for Big Spaces

Article and photos by Barbara Kerr

Desert X has returned to the Coachella Valley.

From March 4 through May 7, Desert X 2023 is showcasing dynamic work by artists from Europe, North America and South Asia with intriguing installations located across Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs and Palm Desert.

The 2023 exhibition supports the mission of Desert X: “to create and present international contemporary art exhibitions that engage with desert environments through site-specific installations by acclaimed artists from around the world.”

Art engaging in issues and curated by place

As Desert X reminds us on its website: “Contrary to the archetype, a desert is not defined by the absence of water. The desert landscape is formed by the memory of water.”

Describing Desert X 2023 as “art engaging in issues,” Artistic Director and Co-Curator Neville Wakefield said: “A place is a story told many times. This is an event curated by place.”

Co-curator Diana Campbell added: “Places are shaped by people and people shape the world.”

To Campbell, Desert X asks the question: “How do we make the invisible…visible?”

To that end, Desert X leaders believe that the 2023 artists have created works that “make visible the forces that we exert on the world: how we design our environments, how we live, the messages we send that reinforce systems that might or might not be beneficial for us.”

In three previous exhibitions in the Coachella Valley (2017, 2019 and 2021), Desert X has drawn an estimated audience of 1.25 million locally. When you consider those who visited a Desert X project in the AlUla desert of Saudi Arabia in 2020 – and those who learn about Desert X on its website and through a documentary about the 2021 exhibition – their reach is even wider. As of this year, Desert X has showcased 70 artists from around the world.

If you go

Produced by The Desert Biennial, a nonprofit organization, Desert X 2023 is free and open to everyone. A free app – available at the Apple and Google stores – is the best way to navigate the exhibition.

Co-curator Diana Campbell has also emphasized the importance of more than 100 volunteers who will support Desert X across the region, providing information and answering questions.

They will also – as Diana Campbell noted – have another vitally important role: encouraging visitors to “slow down and really experience the moment.”

Barbara Kerr is a freelance communication specialist with a passion for writing about people, the arts and special events. Inducted into the Dayton (Ohio) Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame, she is a past chair of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) College of Fellows.