California Cool

Intersect Palm Springs returns to the desert with more high caliber contemporary art and dynamic programming.

With its proximity to Los Angeles, Palm Springs always has a touch of urban cool amid its retro stylings and nostalgia for its Hollywood heyday. Intersect Palm Springs, which brings a broad mix of contemporary and modern art and design galleries and a full slate of engaging programming to the desert from February 9 to 12, will take it to the next level.Intersect Palm Springs brings world class contemporary art, engaging programming and a touch of LA to the desert. Credit: Photos by LaniNotable exhibitors include Blue Rain Gallery, with locations in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Durango, Colorado. Blue Rain will be featuring artists from their impressive roster, including quintessentially Californian works by Dennis Ziemienski; while Chicago’s Gallery Victor Armendariz will present works by their diverse stable of talented artists. Other notable exhibitors hailing from the Coachella Valley and far beyond include Andrew Rafacz, Berry Campbell, Catharine Clark Gallery, Louis Stern Fine Arts, Melissa Morgan Fine Art and Nancy Hoffman Gallery. New to the show are Chambers Fine Art, K Contemporary, Kopeikin Gallery, Morgan Lehman Gallery, Philip Martin Gallery, Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Sapar Contemporary and Walter Maciel Gallery. Carol Pylant, La Prima Pietra, oil on panel, 30 x 36." Exhibitor: Gallery Victor Armendariz“For our second edition of Intersect Palm Springs, we are continuing to build our dynamic community engagement and our curated focus on art and design in the desert,” says Becca Hoffman, managing director of Intersect Palm Springs. “It’s great to see our cultural partnerships grow, with participation from institutions, curators, collectors and others in the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles. We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to experience our galleries’ artistic and design presentations along with our satellite programming and events.”

The complementary programming at the 2023 event includes special exhibitions and talks taking place throughout the duration of the fair, as well as off-site events in collaboration with regional arts organizations in the Coachella Valley and the Palm Springs Art Museum.Dennis Ziemienski, Desert Dive, oil on canvas, 48 x 36." Exhibitor: Blue Rain GalleryA top-tier VIP pass includes select collector home tours, artist studio visits and other intimate, behind the scenes experiences. For instance, there will be an exclusive visit to New York artist Sara Genn’s studio, followed by cocktails with the artist.

A few other highlights include Investigations: Zombie Forest, a unique exhibition curated for the event by Sant Khalsa, artist, educator and activist, and Andi Campognone, director of the Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in Lancaster, California. With 30 artworks by 16 artists, the show is an introduction to the larger exhibition opening at MOAH later in the year. The exhibition focuses on the plight of the unique and iconic Joshua trees and the vital and sensitive Mojave Desert ecosystem that supports them through a variety of media, approaches and styles in works by established and emerging artists.

“Desert, Light, Art!” is a talk with Steven Biller, editor of Palm Springs Life magazine, on why artists have been drawn to the distinctive light of the California desert for 125 years and counting. Kirsten Tradowsky, The Grand Canyon State, oil on canvas, 28 x 30." Exhibitor: Kopeikin Gallery

A performance and spoken word series organized by arts editor of LA Weekly, Shana Nys Dambrot, features Los Angeles and Coachella Valley artists.

Foregrounded: Contemporary Abstraction in the Desert, an exhibition curated by Bernard Leibov (founder and director of BoxoPROJECTS), will showcase artists that include Luc Bernard, Diane Best, Ryan Campbell, William Cokeley, Burzeen Contractor, John Luckett, David Mackenzie, Kim Manfredi, Aili Schmeltz, Julie Weiman and Judy Wold.

For more details about the manifold art and diverse programming to be experienced at Intersect Palm Springs, visit www.intersectpalmsprings.com. Works from the fair will also be available online at Artsy.net through February 28. —

INTERSECT PALM SPRINGS
When: February 9-12, 2023
Where: Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Information: www.intersectpalmsprings.com