Julião Sarmento in Desert X

Desert X is a site-specific show that will take place in the spring of 2017. Artists from different parts of the world will be invited to make work that responds to the unique conditions of Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley. The desert of Desert X is the blank canvas upon which contemporary artists - like the writers, architects, musicians and others before them – will be invited to project their vision and to create from the extraordinary natural and social history around them objects and experiences that reflect upon the matchless spectacle of the geologic epic, the radical abstraction of the surroundings and the singular incursions of man into the seemingly barren landscape. Unique in that it takes the landscape itself as its exhibition space, Desert X will offer the opportunity to explore both the familiar and the unknown through the eyes of others. If the desert is indeed God without man, then Desert X is art without constraint.

Best known for his paintings Julião Sarmento recreates the intimacy and sexual tension found in this more familiar body of work in cometa a piece first performed in 2009. The performance, which takes place in a seedy hotel room, is designed to be witnessed by one person at a time. Set to original music specially composed by portuguese musician paulo furtado, otherwise known as the legendary tigerman, is a study of the longings, desire and discomfort that attends the close encounter of strangers

For more, visit www.desertx.org.