Desert X In Photos: 2025 Exhibition Opens In Coachella Valley

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA — Desert X, the recurring site-specific, international art exhibition, opened its fifth edition Saturday at sites across the Coachella Valley. The exhibition is free and open to all. It will remain on view through May 11, 2025.

Curated by artistic director Neville Wakefield and co-curator Kaitlin Garcia Maestas, the exhibition uses the open desert as its backdrop for 11 installations by artists from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. (See photos of their works above. Full descriptions of the artists’ projects are available here.)

"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."

2025 Desert X artists include:

Sanford Biggers, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. 1970, based in New York, NY, USA
Jose Dávila, b. Guadalajara, Mexico, 1974, based in Guadalajara, Mexico
Agnes Denes, b. Budapest, Hungary, 1931, based in New York, NY, USA
Cannupa Hanska Luger, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota, b. Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, USA, 1979, based in Glorieta, New Mexico, USA
Raphael Hefti, b. Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1978, based in Zurich, Switzerland
Kimsooja, b. Daegu, Korea, 1957, based in Seoul, South Korea and Paris, France
Kapwani Kiwanga, b. Hamilton, Canada, 1978, based in Paris, France
Sarah Meyohas, b. New York, NY, USA, 1991, based in New York, NY, USA
Ronald Rael, b. Conejos Country, CO, USA,1971, based in Berkeley, CA, USA
Alison Saar, b. in Los Angeles, CA, USA, 1956, based in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Muhannad Shono, b. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1977, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

What to know about Desert X:

Opening Hours and Locations

Exhibition opening hours are generally from sunrise to sunset, however, hours and access to installations may vary. Visitors are encouraged to check details for each artist’s work at desertx.org. Admission is free.

Desert X Hub at Thompson Palm Springs

414 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Fri. 2-5 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Stop by to pick up your Desert X 2025 guide, map of artist installations and visitor information.

The Desert X 2025 map of artist installations can be found online at desertx.org and via the Desert X 2025 app.

Leave No Trace
Desert X encourages visitors to follow official Leave No Trace guidelines. Plan ahead and prepare, walk on designated paths, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, respect wildlife, don’t smoke, and be considerate of other visitors.

Guided and Docent-led tours
Desert X docents are at most sites every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Desert X Merchandise
Windmill City Super # 1. 463 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Stop by to browse and buy Desert X merchandise made with Windmill City Printing and other local companies. Visit super-number-one.com for hours.