Every two years, artists from around the world turn the Coachella Valley into a desert-wide artwork experiment. Some pieces are bold and unusual. Others, if you’re not paying attention, are so subtle that you just might miss them! I recently completed the journey of seeing this year’s Desert X, curated by Artistic Director Neville Wakefield and Co-curator Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas. It was an incredible display of the Art & Science of Building and how creating with purposeful design can impact people from all walks of life in a significant way.
Desert X is a public art exhibition featuring site-specific installations by artists from around the world. It takes place in and around cities like Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, and Thousand Palms. Produced by The Desert Biennial, a California-based not-for-profit, it brings contemporary art to life in breathtaking desert landscapes.
As a lover of both art and spending time in nature, this was a GREAT experience! The exhibit asks some big questions, like who gets to shape the land, whose stories are told, and what the future looks like if we keep building the way we have been.
Some familiar names showed up, like Sanford Biggers, whose artwork is part of The Clark Art Collection. I spent a long time looking at his piece, Unsui (Mirror). It features two tall sequin-covered sculptures set against the desert sky. Drawing from his study of Buddhism, unsui—Japanese for “clouds and water”—symbolizes the ability to move without restriction. The reflective surface of the sculptures interacts with the light, creating a quiet and lasting visual effect.
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s G.H.O.S.T. Ride (Generative Habitation Operating System Technology), on the other hand, was unfortunately impossible to stop and truly appreciate because it was set along a busy stretch of road with no shoulder. I think it deserved more of my time and everyone else's. Regardless, I soaked up what I could while driving by at 70 mph.
Kimsooja’s To Breathe – Coachella Valley wasn’t finished when we passed through, but the glass pavilion already had the artist’s trademark calm. It refracts desert light like a net with what Kimsooja calls a “bottari of light.” Even half-built, it had a strong presence.
Felipe Baeza’s mural Finding Home in My Own Flesh was one of the most powerful. The image of hands holding a cloud of vines and flowers suggests care, growth, and something taking shape.
Sarah Meyohas’ Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams lived up to the name. This piece is reminiscent of sundials and ancient timekeeping technologies. It also nods to big land art projects from the 1900s. Each mirrored panel was designed using computer tech to play with light, and together they spell out the words: “truth arrives in slanted beams.” In one photo, Jane literally reflects the word TRUTH. Couldn’t have planned it better!
Agnes Denes’ The Living Pyramid is a striking structure planted with native vegetation in the Sunnylands. It changes every day as things bloom, seed, and fade. Denes is a true inspiration. She is in her 90s and still pushing forward, building systems of peace and growth. We snapped a shot of me there with Marcela Manjarrez and Steve Harpole.
Jose Dávila’s The act of being together is all tension and balance. Dávila is known for his work emphasizing material density, gravity, and time. This piece looks like it’s about to fall over but doesn’t. It is a symbolic reminder of how our environments are very fragile and require symmetry to function properly.
Ronald Rael’s Adobe Oasis felt like a representation of ancient building techniques meeting modern design. Rael’s work draws on 10,000 years of building to offer a sustainable alternative to impact-heavy architecture. He highlights adobe’s benefits, like low cost, energy efficiency, fire resistance, and non-toxicity, while showing how new tech like 3D printing can push old methods toward a greener future.
Alison Saar’s Soul Service Station was amazing to see in person! Saar takes old, everyday materials like metal and wood and turns them into something full of meaning. Inspired by gas stations in the American West, this piece isn’t about filling up your car—it’s about refueling your spirit. She mixed humor, history, and emotion to create something that feels both bold and welcoming.
Muhannad Shono’s What Remains is about movement, memory, and identity. He builds complex systems from ordinary things like string, pipe, and sand Shono aimed for this piece to ask: What remains when home drifts, when story bends but does not break, when presence refuses to erode?
Kapwani Kiwanga’s Plotting Rest is an open-air structure that LOOKS like a shelter, but it doesn’t actually protect you. Instead, it makes you feel the sun, wind, and shadows. It’s inspired by Palm Springs architecture and a quilt pattern called “flying geese,” which was used as a secret code on the Underground Railroad to help guide people to freedom. This was a deeply layered and important piece that shows how art can hold history, emotion, and meaning all at once.
Raphael Hefti’s Five things you can’t wear on TV is all about perception. Hefti used a tough black fiber that was originally made for fire hoses and stretched it tightly between two far points, creating a floating line in the air. One side has a shiny coating that reflects the light, and when the wind blows, the line gently moves, almost like a guitar string. It’s a simple setup, but it really connects with the landscape and makes you pause and look a little closer.
Armando Lerma’s La Fiesta en El Desierto is part of his Coachella Walls project that brings murals and public art to the Historic Pueblo Viejo District in Downtown Coachella. It’s all about lifting up a community that’s often overlooked, honoring farmworkers, and creating space for stories that deserve to be seen and heard. This new mural blends desert imagery with cultural memory and makes you stop and think about the lives and voices behind it.
Desert X was my kind of show. It was smart, thought-provoking, and full of surprises. It brings powerful art right into the heart of the desert, with pieces that speak to the land, history, and the world we live in. If you’re anywhere near Coachella Valley, don’t miss it. Desert X runs through May 11, and it’s worth the trip.
Let the desert—and the art—move you!
