The Wick List

Viewing Desert X 2021

Desert X has returned to California’s Coachella Valley with 13 site-specific art installations that explore the desert as both a place and an idea. The exhibited works look at the conditions, environment and indigenous communities of desert locations as well as the social, cultural and political contexts that shape our stories past, present and future.

Curated by Desert X artistic director Neville Wakefield and co-curator César García-Alvarez, Desert X 21 includes works by such celebrated artists as Eduardo Sarabia, Oscar Murillo and Nicholas Galanin.

Standout exhibits include Zahrah Alghamdi’s What Lies Behind the Walls, a monumental free-standing wall comprised of stacked material forms that reference the histories and cultures of the places from which they originate; and The Wishing Well by the Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey.

Draped with sheets of woven pieces of yellow plastic Kufuor gallons, vessels introduced by Europeans and used by the people of Ghana to transport water, it addresses the urgent issue of water scarcity — both in Ghana and Palm Springs — as well as the legacies of empire in Africa.

The desert-spanning biennial runs until 16 May — and can also be explored online. Outdoor, thought-provoking and free, this is art for our times. (But yes, you will need a car if navigating IRL.)

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The Wick Culture - Selah, 2025, Gabriel Moses. Image courtesy of 180 Studios
The Wick List

Viewing Gabriel Moses: Selah at 180 Studios

The Wick Culture - Me and Esme in a Korean Restaurant, 2024, Chantal Joffe. © Chantal Joffe, courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro. Photos by Jack Hems.  
The Wick List

Viewing Chantal Joffe: The Dog’s Birthday at Skarstedt Paris

The Wick Culture - Horizontal–Vaakasuora by Eija-Liisa Ahtila. Image courtesy of Kew Gardens
The Wick List

Viewing The Power of Trees at Kew Gardens

The Wick Culture - Amoako Boafo, Shoulder Stand, 2023. Amoako Boafo, Black Cycle, 2025. © Amoako Boafo, Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd, Courtesy Gagosian
The Wick List

Viewing Amoako Boafo at Gagosian London

The Wick Culture - Rose Wylie, Henry Triangle, 1996. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner
The Wick List

Viewing Rose Wylie at David Zwirner

The Wick Culture - The neck from a stoneware bottle with a bearded face known as a Bartmann bottle 1500s – 1600s. The bearded face decorating the neck lies half-buried on the foreshore. Image courtesy of Alessio Checconi and London Museum
The Wick List

Viewing Secrets of the Thames at the London Museum