For decades, artists have been drawn to the High Desert east of Los Angeles for its ample space, limited distractions, and sparse population. This creative oasis offers a respite from the pressures and constraints of urban living, with the city only a few hours' drive away. Projects ranging from Noah Purifoy's Open Air Museum to Andrea Zittel's AZ West and the new Desert X biennial have established the region as an alternative artistic mecca.
The latest addition to the area is the Magic Hour, a minimalist, modular structure produced in collaboration with event planning and design firm Dyson & Womack, which will hold artworks in the open air, framed by the landscape. Founded by artists Ben Tong and Alice Wang, it will be an experimental platform for a series of six-week, site-specific exhibitions beginning this Saturday. Simply titled No. 1, the first exhibition features Patricia Fernández, Anne Guro Larsmon, Shana Lutker, Sarah Rara, and Gracie Devito, whose raining cloud sculpture from 2015 encapsulates the mixture of nature and artifice that the project embodies.
