Desert X 2021 has announced its participating artists. These are the upcoming works

A large maze structure by Mexico-based artist Eduardo Sarabia. A sculptural wall created by Saudi Arabia artist Zahrah Alghamdi that connects the Southern California landscape to other deserts around the world. A smoke sculpture by American feminist artist Judy Chicago. 

These are some of the artworks you'll see across the Coachella Valley as part of the outdoor biennial art exhibition Desert X when it returns March 12 to May 16. 

The exhibition, which offers digital and in-person opportunities to view work across 40 miles of the desert, is being curated by Artistic Director Neville Wakefield and co-curator César García-Alvarez. 

A map with exact locations of the installations will be available on desertx.org and on the Desert X 2021 app starting March 12. 

Visitors will also be able to get maps and information at a "hub" at Ace Hotel & Swim Club (701 E. Palm Canyon Drive) in Palm Springs. 

Desert X will also sell merchandise made by Windmill City Screen Printing and other local companies at Windmill City Super #1 (463 N. Palm Canyon Drive) in Palm Springs.

The 2021 exhibition is focused on current issues such as land rights ownership and stewardship, migration, social justice and more, according to an announcement with the list of participating artists released by organizers Tuesday.

Desert X Founder and President Susan Davis referred to the 2021 edition as an "exhibition for our times."

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“The curators have brought together an extraordinary group of international artists who have made compelling works that celebrate the Coachella Valley and its histories while provoking us to explore our commonalities and celebrate our differences,” Davis said in a prepared statement.  

Desert X Artistic Director and Co-Curator Neville Wakefield described the 2021 exhibition as "the most far-reaching and diverse." 

"It's very gender-balanced and much more representative of the diversity of artists that have come here, passed through and taken the valley and the world at large," Wakefield said in an interview with The Desert Sun. 

A look at the upcoming works

The 2021 exhibition will feature 13 artists from around the world, with works that range from billboards to paintings. 

One installation, "Women's Qualities" by Egyptian artist Ghada Amer, is based on a series where Amer polled local communities for words describing the qualities of women. The installation will take the form of words associated with femininity.*

Another collaborative piece is Oscar Murillo's exhibit "Frequencies," which saw participation from students at schools across the Coachella Valley. 

The exhibition will also feature a mural, "Finding Home in My Own Flesh" by Mexico artist Felipe Baeza, which is focused on the "erasure of queer communities of color from multiple histories and places integral to the Coachella Valley," including the local labor movement and those who died of HIV and AIDS, according to a press release.e

Meanwhile, "Never Forget," an installation by Alaska artist Nicholas Galanin, will examine monuments and what they mean.

And New York artist Xaviera Simmons will use billboards in "Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band A Militia," to confront white stereotypes and societal structures.

One of the locations for the works is already known because it was a topic of discussion at a Palm Springs City Council meeting. Christopher Myers’ installation "The Art of Taming Horses," will be installed in six locations along the median on Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs. The installation includes sculptures with draping banners that tell the fictional story of "two ranchers — one Mexican and one African-American — whose personal adversities and love for raising horses lead them to creating a welcoming commune in the place that would eventually become Palm Springs," according to a description from the artist. 

Originally planned to be sited in Coachella, Ghanian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey's "The Wishing Well" is made from Kufuor gallons used in Ghana to move drinking water from cities to villages. The Coachella city council took issue with the installation's subject matter, however, and Wakefield said organizers would relocate the installation to another part of the Coachella Valley. 

The only local artist in the exhibition is Joshua Tree-based Kim Stringfellow, a contributor to "The Mojave Project," a documentary and curatorial project exploring themes such as "Desert as Wasteland" and "Space and Perception."

Stringfellow's piece, a diorama called "Jackrabbit Homestead," will center on the history of the Jackrabbit homesteader starting in 1938. 

The exhibition will be rounded out by Argentinian artist Vivian Suter's installation of paintings and light inspired by the Coachella Valley; "Tamanrasset" will be featured inside an iconic modernist building.

Finally, Chicago will contribute a "smoke sculpture" titled "Living Smoke; A Tribute to the Living Desert," scheduled for April 9 at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, in partnership with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.*

Safety precautions will be in place

Organizers announced in January that they were postponing the exhibition originally scheduled to start on Feb. 6 due to a surge of COVID-19 cases. 

The event's third edition is slated to happen as other major events across Southern California remain on hold amid the pandemic. In the Coachella Valley, both the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals were canceled for April. The area also saw the cancellation of this year's BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. 

Desert X Executive Director Jenny Gil previously told The Desert Sun that organizers plan to have hand sanitizer at each installation as well as health ambassadors to ensure patrons follow regulations for social distancing. Staff will provide masks to visitors who show up without one. 

Depending on the installation and how patrons interact with it, there may be timed ticketing to ensure there aren't too many people where social distancing isn't possible. 

"What we're really seeking is to ensure a very safe experience for everyone," Gil said at the time. 

Desert X organizers are also developing "specific paths" or directions for people from their cars to the art installations, Gil said, "not only for COVID-19 reasons but for environmental reasons."

Founded in 2017, Desert X has received critical acclaim for its site-specific art installations by popular international contemporary artists. Its first iteration in the Coachella Valley included memorable pieces like Texas-based artist Will Boone's underground bunker with a sculpture of former President John F. Kennedy in Rancho Mirage, as well as local artist Phillip K. Smith III's circle of mirrors in Palm Desert.

*A previous version of this article erroneously described Ghada Amer's upcoming installation "Women's Qualities" using details from a past work. It also included the incorrect title for Judy Chicago's "Living Smoke; A Tribute to the Living Desert."

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.