Participating artists included Doug Aitken, Lita Albuquerque, Jeffrey Gibson, Sherin Guirguis, Glann Kaino, Richard Prince, Rob Pruitt, Julião Sarmento, Phillip K. Smith III, and Tavares Strachan.
Works included a camouflaged house covered in mirrors, an autonomous vehicle known as the "ShyBot" that is programmed to avoid people, as well as an underground bunker with a kitsch sculpture of John F.
Participating artists included Iván Argote, Nancy Baker Cahill, Cecilia Bengolea, Pia Camil, John Gerrard, Julian Hoeber, Jenny Holzer, Iman Issa, Mary Kelly, Armando Lerma, Eric N. Mack, Cinthia Marcelle, Postcommodity, Cara Romero, Sterling Ruby, Kathleen Ryan, Gary Simmons, Superflex, Chris Taylor & Steve Badgett.
The exhibition explored the concept of the desert being both a place and idea, and featured artworks that acknowledged the realities of people who reside here and the political, social, and cultural contexts that shape their stories.
Participating artists for Desert X 2021 included Zahrah Alghamdi, Ghada Amer, Felipe Baeza, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Nicholas Galanin, Alicja Kwade, Oscar Murillo, Christopher Myers, Eduardo Sarabia, Xaviera Simmons, and Vivian Suter.
It is at once a record of the previous tumultuous 18 months through the eyes and voices of some of the most well-known artists and a timely piece that poses urgent questions about the past while imagining the possibilities of a shared future.