{"id":1858108,"date":"2026-03-31T18:08:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1858108"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:08:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:08:48","slug":"californias-high-desert-is-rich-with-beauty-an-art-fair-ups-the-ante","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1858108","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s High Desert Is Rich With Beauty. An Art Fair Ups the Ante"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Pioneertown-Motel_Courtesy-of-Pioneertown-Motel_9.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n\tIf you got the uncanny feeling, while visiting the High Desert Art Fair (HDAF) last weekend, that you were on a movie set, that\u2019s because, in a way, you were. The event took place in California\u2019s High Desert, at the Pioneertown Motel, built in 1946 by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to simulate a Western town on screen. It\u2019s located a couple of hours\u2019 drive (if you time it right) from Los Angeles; about an hour from Palm Springs, with its thriving artistic and design communities; and 30 minutes from the positively magical Joshua Tree National Park. HDAF, which hosted 20 galleries, nonprofits, studios, and publishers, is in its fifth year, and its second at the Pioneertown Motel (it previously occupied assorted Airbnbs).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso a bit unreal to me was how such a successful art fair, with plentiful visitors streaming through all day Saturday, could be going on in such an out-of-the-way place, but it\u2019s not as far out of the way as you might think.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHDAF, which ran March 28-29, is the brainchild of Nicholas Fahey, co-owner of LA\u2019s Fahey\/Klein Gallery, and Candice Lawler, an artist manager, both of whom own homes in the area. At a dinner party, Fahey told the crowd that it\u2019s easier to get LA people to come to the High Desert than to get them to travel from, say, Malibu to visit his gallery in Hancock Park, not far from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. So, Fahey and Lawler thought, why not start an art fair there?<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
High Desert Art Fair co-founders Candice Lawler and Nicholas Fahey.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tMany in the art world complain about art fair fatigue, and many in the art market acknowledge the need to cultivate new generations of collectors. HDAF may offer a solution to both. (On the latter front, the fair offered a busy schedule of educational public programming, with one panel even devoted to \u201cCollecting 101.\u201d) HDAF is part of a recentwave of fairs focused on small set of curated exhibitors, like the invite-only Arrival in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, at the stylish Tourists hotel; the Basel Social Club, a loose-limbed Art Basel satellite that one year took place in an open field; and Post-Fair, a thoughtful Frieze LA satellite in a vacant Santa Monica post office. These satellites aim to offer a less commercial alternative than the much larger international brands, like Art Basel and Frieze, often with lower price points (for both collectors and exhibitors). Dealers at HDAF paid in the area of $3,500 for the rooms for two days, which included install and deinstall, Fahey told me over drinks. That\u2019s a bargain compared to a large booth at Art Basel, which can run more than $125,000, or even a smaller display in the Statements or Features sections, which start at $13,000.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne thing this budding fair has going for it is that it builds on a thriving cultural ecosystem already in place. Hundreds of artists have flocked to the area for its natural beauty, as have patrons of the arts. Apart from the government, one of the area\u2019s most major landowners is artist Ed Ruscha, who stopped in to see friends in the \u201970s and started scooping up properties immediately.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLast weekend, a VIP program included visits to several inspiring sites, including the outdoor museum established by assemblage artist Noah Purifoy (on land donated by Ruscha). There was Andrea Zittel\u2019s High Desert Test Sites, where she develops the modular habitats and crafty projects you\u2019ve likely seen in museums and galleries, but which come alive in person. Art collector Jerry Sohn invited architect Arata Isozaki to build four concrete pavilions on his property, one for each season, that people can sleep in and use to enjoy the spectacular surroundings, along with art installations by the likes of Richard Long. Also on Sohn\u2019s property are the \u201cGhost Cabins\u201d of Rachel Whiteread.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Pioneertown Motel.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBack at the fair, art lovers enjoyed the sun and the surrounding landscape while ambling between rooms named for Western figures like Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and Annie Oakley. Many brought their dogs. Those with kids or an urge to shop could head to nearby Pioneertown\u2019s petting zoos and souvenir shops, which offered cowboy boots and hats that wouldn\u2019t have looked out of place at the fair. Does it all sound a bit kitschy? Maybe, but it does beat yet another visit to a windowless convention center with uniform booths stretching from one end to the other.<\/p>\n

\n\tEvery time I mentioned to a local that I\u2019d last visited the area 20 years before, they said \u201cOh, a lot has changed since then!\u201d San Francisco art dealer Jonathan Carver Moore bought a second home in Palm Springs in 2022; he says a lot has changed even since that time. (Moore was showing a selection of gallery artists, including striking, colorful paintings by Carrie Anne Plank that, she told me, have to do with AI modeling of protein formulations in vaccines, and are her little protest against the current administration\u2019s anti-vaccine stance.)<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Carrie Ann Plank, Protean Constructs #5 (mRNA Capping Enzyme)<\/em>.<\/span>FRANCIS BAKER<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe changes everyone was talking about have been seen throughout the area, which isn\u2019t immune to gentrification, as Clayton Baldwin, a real estate adviser and agent focused on the High Desert, told me. The area has seen a \u201cmeaningful cultural migration,\u201d he said, increasingly drawing artists, makers, designers, architects, collectors, and others from LA, New York, and the Bay Area, such that the area no longer seems fringe. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe larger story is really one of open land, conservation, and long-term stewardship,\u201d he argued. That said, \u201cPrices have risen dramatically over the last decade, though not in a straight line and not evenly across every part of the market.\u201d He rattled off a lengthy and not nearly comprehensive list of artists who have bought real estate in the area, including Iwan Baan, Edie Fake, Shepard Fairey, Jake Longstreth, Liza Lou, Jack Pierson, Rod Radziner, Cybele Row, Philip K. Smith III, Lily Stockman, and many more.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne main selling point for HDAF is its accessibility to new collectors. Many exhibitors offered artworks ranging from the hundreds of dollars into the few-thousand range, and reported plenty of success. Track 16, of Los Angeles, was selling works priced from $300 to $8,000. On Saturday, the priciest piece they\u2019d sold was a painting by Chris Ulivo for $4,500.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Yucca Valley Material Lab\u2019s display at the High Desert Art Fair.<\/span>Victoria Posh, courtesy High Desert Art Fair<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tArtist Heidi Schwegler, founder of Yucca Valley Material Labs, said at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday that she had already made money on the fair, which would help fund the nonprofit\u2019s varied activities, like residencies for artists, musicians, and writers. The organization\u2019s\u201cbrisk business\u201d included pieces that had sold for as high as $3,200, she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith all the cowboy hats and boots around, as well as a queer contingent of art supporters from Palm Springs who were out in force, a highlight of the weekend came viacompelling paintings of gay Westernersby Austin-based artist RF. Alvarez, showing with Los Angeles gallery Megan Mulrooney. I was particularly drawn to a sexy, intense portrait of an artist friend, Sepulcher <\/em>(2026). It was priced at just $4,000.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
RF Alvarez, Sepulcher <\/em>(2026).<\/span>courtesy the artist and Megan Mulrooney<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBut it wasn\u2019t all entry-level prices. The biggest sale by orders of magnitude that I heard of took place at Harold\u2019s Gallery of LA, which sold a print by John Baldessari, A Refugee Is a Human Being Stripped of Everything Except Suffering<\/em> (1988), originally made to raise money after a famine in Biafra, for $41,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBaldessari\u2019s work, an example of artists\u2019 engagement with the larger world, was on view as millions across the globe marched on Saturday in the latest No Kings demonstration against Donald Trump. No protestors came through Pioneertown, but the outside world wasn\u2019t absent.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
John Baldessari, A Refugee Is a Human Being Stripped of Everything Except Suffering<\/em> (1988).<\/span>Harold\u2019s Gallery<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tArtists Ry Rocklen and Ryan Schneider manned the room devoted to Rocklen\u2019s gallery Quality Coins (named for the pawn shop that used to occupy the gallery\u2019s home in nearby Yucca Valley), offering works mostly from $250 to $2,500, with proceeds going to two causes: one, to help those in the area affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including sending money to neighbors who have been deported (as well as sending their dogs to join them); and two, organizing opposition to high-density real estate development in Joshua Tree. Schneider told me they had raised about $15,000 by midafternoon on Sunday, selling pieces by artists including Claire Colette, Heather Day, and Daniel Gibson, as well as by Rocklen and Schneider.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Artists Ry Rocklen and Ryan Schneider work the room for Rocklen\u2019s LA gallery, Quality Coins.<\/span>Victoria Posh, courtesy High Desert Art Fair<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAnd back at Harold\u2019s Gallery, an impressive large drawing by Laurie Lipton showed the grim interior of an ICE concentration camp, complete with armed guards and crying children. It came straight out of the studio to the fair. Last we checked with the gallery owner, Harold Huttas, it remained available.<\/p>\n

\n\tMusic was present throughout. Artist Shepard Fairey offered an opening night DJ set; a few exhibitors brought record players or portable speakers and hooked them up in their rooms, whether playing thrift-store finds or, at LA\u2019s Gross Gallery on Sunday, soothing ambient music. Gallery founder Julian Gross was selling artworks by musicians, including TV On the Radio\u2019s Tunde Adebimpe, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Interpol\u2019s Paul Banks, who showed C-prints of iPhone photos of architecture, shot while the band is on tour. Gross had met his expenses a few hours in.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Casey Niccoli, We Won\u2019t Be Fooled Again<\/em> (2026).<\/span>Farrington Press<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAnother musical connection: at Farrington Press (\u201can off-grid print shop and collaborative space nestled in the mountains in an undisclosed location between the San Bernardino National Forest and Joshua Tree National Park\u201d), the room was overseen by a gorgeous large print by artist Casey Niccoli, We Won\u2019t Be Fooled Again<\/em> (2026). Even if they don\u2019t know her name, music lovers may know one of her works; she collaborated with \u201990s alternative rock titans Jane\u2019s Addiction, co-creating the sculpture that appeared on the cover of their 1990 smash hit album Ritual de lo Habitual<\/em>. As she has written, she found herself erased from the band\u2019s history. Now, she\u2019s making work again after a long hiatus.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh headlined a musical showcase at honky-tonk bar Pappy & Harriet\u2019s.<\/span>Victoria Posh, courtesy High Desert Art Fair<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tOne musical icon was also present in the flesh during the weekend\u2019s festivities. Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh headlined a concert at honky-tonk roadhouse Pappy & Harriet\u2019s, next door to the fair, playing a DJ set and using an imposing artifact, \u201cThe General,\u201d which he characterizes as part instrument, part sculpture; his drawn and written work flashed by on large screens as he played. MutMuz Gallery, of LA, was selling prints hand-made by Mothersbaugh in Devo\u2019s 1980s heyday for just $750, as well as CDs of his music and his art books. (At the concert, cowboy hats were joined by several examples of the conical stepped \u201cenergy dome\u201d headgear that Devo made famous.) Mothersbaugh\u2019s rousing set ended with an updated version of \u201cUncontrollable Urge,\u201d the first track from his old band\u2019s first record (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!<\/em>), with its stuttering-but-anthemic chorus (\u201cYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah<\/em>!\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWill enough collectors and dealers say \u201cyeah\u201d to the High Desert Art Fair to make it a lasting part of the art market? Only time will tell. As for me, I certainly won\u2019t wait another 20 years to return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/market\/california-high-desert-art-fair-1234779441\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Pioneertown-Motel_Courtesy-of-Pioneertown-Motel_9.jpg?w=1024″] If you got the uncanny feeling, while visiting the High Desert Art Fair (HDAF) last weekend, that you were on a movie set, that\u2019s because, in a way, you were. The event took place in California\u2019s High Desert, at the Pioneertown Motel, built in 1946 by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1858108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1858108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1858108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1858108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1858108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}