Intersect Palm Springs exhibition 'Zombie Forest' investigates plight of Joshua trees

As climate change threatens vegetation throughout the world, Stanford researchers came up with the term "zombie forests" to describe ecosystems at risk for wildfires.

One example of this vegetation is the Joshua tree, which is threatened by climate change, development and other human activities and wildfire. That's the focus of an exhibition at the immersive art event Intersect Palm Springs Feb. 9-12 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

"Investigations: Zombie Forest," presented by artist, educator and activist Sant Khalsa and Lancaster Museum of Art and History Director Andi Campognone, will showcase 30 artworks by 16 artists, all related to the plight of Joshua trees in the desert ecosystem.

"Joshua trees are our canary in the coal mine," Khalsa said. "This is the environment many of us choose to live in, and if it's not a suitable habitat for Joshua trees, what about all the other species that choose to live here? It's bringing attention not just to the plight of the Joshua tree, but the plight all of us are living with."

Some highlights of the installation are Russian artist Yulia Kazakova's painting "The Nature Of The Present" of a lone Joshua tree among windmills, solar panels and power lines, Southern California artist Fred Brashear Jr's vintage-style portrait "Endemic Treasures" and Los Angeles artist Michelle Robinson's painting "Mourning" featuring a dying Joshua tree amid a plain background.

"This isn't going to be a pretty Joshua tree show," Campognone said. "However, all the work is beautiful. I don't think we have anything off-putting, and there's definitely not anything in your face. There's enough concepts to understand this is addressing something serious."

As a professor of art at California State University, San Bernardino and a Joshua Tree resident, Khalsa is connected to artists doing landscape work inspired by subjects such as ecology and the environment. She began her search for "Zombie Forest" exhibitors by reaching out to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Getty Center and other Southern California creative hubs. The result is a mix of artists from varying mediums, and some will also present different work during a 2024 exhibition at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster.

"I would go to the artists' websites and the work really spoke to me ... But making work about Joshua trees isn't enough, it's about making work about how Joshua trees are threatened by what changes are happening," Khalsa said. "There were artists I spoke with that weren't a good a fit. Some were perfect and others weren't making work about Joshua trees, but I knew the type of work they did and that they might be interested in starting new work related to Joshua trees"

According to the National Park Service, the name "Joshua tree" was coined by Mormon immigrants making their way across the Colorado River during the mid-19th century after the biblical figure Joshua because of its outstretched arms. But although this reference is common, there is no official record of this in the Mormons' history. Khalsa said there have been numerous cultural references to the trees and some by Native Americans, which is referenced in the exhibition.

"Native American communities were here first, so that's important," Khalsa said.

The exhibition will take place during an agency hearing on Joshua trees

On Feb. 8 and 9, the California Fish and Game Commission will discuss a petition and a department report in a closed hearing on listing the western Joshua tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. Findings will be adopted at a future meeting.

The tree’s suitable habitat is expected to decline substantially by 2100 due to climate change, especially in the southern portions of its range — meaning the Joshua tree would largely be unable to survive in its namesake park by the end of this century.

Campognone said it went from a planned visual exhibition to an opportunity to engage with the local community on the subject. While researching Joshua trees, scientists, writers, politicians and Native Americans emerged to discuss the politics and policy of the local ecosystem and the trees.

"This is an opportunity to take this subject matter without editorializing it in a way that we're trying to shove a specific idea down somebody's throat, but to literally give so many different versions and perspectives around the Joshua tree to let people make up their own minds," Campognone said. "We can inform them like, 'Hey, this is something that's happening," but we're also speaking to how art can change cultures and how art engagement becomes activism."

Outside of the park, the western Joshua tree’s habitat extends northeast through fast-growing high desert cities like Victorville, Hesperia and Palmdale, where California residents themselves have increasingly sought refuge from high housing prices — a crucial point for opponents who say listing the species would slow development in the region. Khalsa said she's notices a trend with many of the new homes near her Joshua Tree residence.

"Most (new homes) are on two-to- five acres and they're putting big fences up on their properties. We would never put a fence up because we feel it's important to leave it open so wildlife can move through the property," Khalsa said. "The people coming in from cities are afraid of people coming on their property. I've been here for 12 years and that's not an issue. I think what's important if you come and live in a place like this is you connect with the natural space, and the privilege to be here in this wild space where indigenous people stewarded this land for millenia."

Even though Intersect Palm Springs is an art fair and marketplace, Campognone said there's room to transform art fairs into a "public forum" beyond a place where collectors go to buy artwork.

"We're thrilled Intersect finds value in the opportunity to present these things in a public forum, otherwise we wouldn't get to do that except for in a museum. It's nice to be able to reach out to a community where maybe not all are museumgoers."

Abstract and other types of art will have their own curated spaces

Other curated spaces featured at Intersect Palm Springs include "Art, But Make It Sports" featuring juxtaposition of sports photos and classic paintings featured on the Instagram and Twitter accounts ArtButMakeItSports, "Foregrounded: Abstraction in the Desert," a selection of abstract work by regional desert artists and "Sunset Unlimited," a group presentation of artworks curated by Los Angeles artist Devin Troy Stother.

The boutique fair features a mix of modern and contemporary art from several prominent art galleries. This year's event will include work from Palm Desert gallery Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Louis Stern Fine Arts, New Discretions, Sapar Contemporary and more.

Last year's fair included the exhibition "Zzyzx Redux" featuring artworks by local artists Ryan Campbell, Gerald Clarke, Sofia Enriquez, Carlos Ramirez Phillip K. Smith III, Aili Schmeltz, Kim Stringfellow and more. It was curated by Bernard Leibov, the director of BoxoPROJECTS, a multi-program arts initiative based in Joshua Tree.

The exhibition referenced Zzyzx, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County founded by radio evangelist, Methodist minister and self-proclaimed doctor Curtis Howe Springer in 1944. He built the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa on 12,800 acres of federal land he attained with a mining claim.

Managing Director Becca Hoffman said there's potential to touch on more desert subjects such as climate change and the global condition.

"I think it's important to have a curated group of galleries that is supported by exhibitions that investigate these topics," Hoffman said.

Hoffman wouldn't disclose attendance figures from the previous event but said "We hit it out of the ballpark." This year's programming also expanded from two curated spaces to four, and includes additional offsite events.

"We believe it's important to make sure we're giving our audience a full robust window into the desert," Hoffman said.

If you go

What: Intersect Palm Springs

When: Feb. 9-12

Where: Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs

Cost: $25 for a single-day pass, $50 for a multi-day pass and $100 for all-access pass

More info: www.intersectpalmsprings.com

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Intersect Palm Springs to feature art on the plight of Joshua trees