THE YORK TIMES
By Vivian Yee
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| For Desert X, the artist RashedAl Shashai installed “A Concise Passage” in the sandstone canyons of an ancient oasis in Saudi Arabia. Rashed AlShashai and Desert X Al Ula; Lance Gerber |
AL ULA, Saudi Arabia — The Coachella art crowd had arrived in the Saudi desert, and chic caftans in head-turning colors outnumbered abayas on the sand. At a buffet ornamented with cantaloupes carved in the shape of flowers, waiters tended a fresh-squeezed juice station and rows of dainty canapés. Across the gold-and-russet sandstone canyon, the brawny rock formations sprouted contemporary art: an iridescent spaceshiplike sculpture, a glinting metal tunnel, a scattering of brightly painted spheres.
These were the fruits of Desert X AlUla, a partnership between Desert X, a California-based art biennial that had staged two previous exhibitions in the Coachella Valley, and the Saudi government, which had coaxed Desert X to mount a show in its own western desert at the country’s expense. [
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| The French artist eL Seed created “Mirage” as a bridge between East and West, using Arabic calligraphy to spread messages of peace and unity. Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris; eL Seed and Desert X AlUla; Lance Gerber |
