Intersect 21 Engages Public With Art on a Local, World Virtual Stage

Desert to Palm (2014) by Jeremy Kidd will be on display virtually at one of the participating galleries of Intersect 21, Imago Gallery in Palm Desert.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY IMAGO GALLERIES

For nearly a year, the coronavirus pandemic has made us feel disconnected, isolated, and searching for ways to engage without putting our health at risk. Starting Feb. 16, Intersect 21 offers an opportunity to interact with art on both the Greater Palm Springs and global stage brought together on one virtual platform.

Over the course of a week, the public will be able to visit galleries and talk to a gallery rep, tour artist studios, and participate in several lively discussions through the Intersect2021 website, Intersect2021.com. The art fair will also be hosted by Artsy through March 15.

“The world is a small place and we need to open up our cultural doors, and we need to be more aware of how there are so many similarities in artistic creation worldwide,” says Becca Hoffman, managing director of Intersect Art and Design, which also stages Intersect Chicago and Intersect Aspen.

“So the goal really is to showcase that art from a small town in Morocco can have resonance with art from a big city in Southern California.”

Intersect 21 brings together 21 galleries showing 21 artworks each in Southern California, the Middle East, and North Africa including three from Palm Desert — Hohmann, Imago, and Melissa Morgan Fine Art. Participants will also see work from Peter Blake Gallery (Laguna Beach) and Edward Cella Art + Architecture (Los Angeles).

The global aspect of the seven-day event will be apparent from the start. The opening VIP hour on Feb. 16, slated to start at 9 p.m. PST and open to the public, will feature Hoffman, CEO Tim von Gal, and Curatorial Advisor Rebecca Anne Proctor as they introduce the project, followed by short 20-second highlight clips of each gallery.

Closer to home, Southern California art lovers can choose from five discussions tapping into a variety of art-based topics. They include:

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY MELISSA MORGAN FINE ART
Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert will showcase the work of contemporary light artist Olivia Steele.

Feb. 17, 9 a.m. PST: Desert Modern: Cross-Cultural Influences in Art and Design. Designers choose their favorite works across Intersect 21’s three regions, including Sarah A. Abdallah, designer, interior architect, and founder of Functional Creative Design; Steve Kadlec, architect and founder and principal of Kadlec Architecture + Design; Rasheed Kamel, art and design collector and owner of contemporary design gallery Le LAB; and moderated by Erika Heet, editor-in-chief of Interiors Magazine.

Feb. 18, 8:30 a.m. (PST): The Cross Cultural Female Gaze is a conversation with artists Lita Albuquerque (Peter Blake Gallery); Rania Mater (Galerie Tanit), and Alia Ali (Galerie SINIYA28), moderated by Manal Ataya, director general of the Sharjah Museums Authority.

Feb. 19, 1 p.m. (PST): Hyperion Hope — Ruth Pastine and Mads Christensen on Light as the Source and Subject of Their Art, including artists Mads Christensen (Timothy Yarger Fine Art), and Ruth Pastine (Edward Cella Gallery); moderated by Hunter Drohojowska-Philip, journalist and art critic.

Feb. 21, 9:30 a.m. (PST): Can Artists Save the Salton Sea? The panel including artists Randy Polumbo (Imago Galleries) and Olivia Steele (Melissa Morgan Fine Art); moderated by one of the founders of the Bombay Beach Biennial, Tao Ruspoli;, and Palm Springs Life Editor-in-Chief Steven Biller. The panel will discuss the history of the sea and the looming health and environmental crisis it creates in Southern California, and how artists discovered and rallied for the cause.

Feb. 21, 11 a.m. (PST): Hybridity and Fluidity is a conversation with artist Amir Zaki (Edward Cella Gallery) and Virginia Heckert, curator of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

“What I'm really excited about this platform being is an opportunity not just to showcase artwork, but to engage with the global community and to hopefully be a catalyst for thoughtful forward movement,” Hoffman says. “By that I mean how art can affect environmental change, how art can bring communities together, how art can give an identity to artists who don't have a home, things of that nature.

Over the course of the week, participants will enter on the homepage through three artworks that are chosen per day from each participating gallery. The artwork takes you to the gallery where you can view the artists they are showcasing and connect with someone from the gallery.

From Southern California, you can view:

Peter Blake Gallery will present work by installation artist, environmental artist, painter and sculptor Lita Albuquerque, who was raised in Tunisia, North Africa and Paris, France.

Edward Cella Art + Architecture will present work by Kendell Carter, who creates site-specific installations that engage issues of race, gender, material culture, and shared history; sculptor and ceramic artist Brad Miller, whose work is inspired in part by the cellular structures found in nature, and Amir Zaki, who creates photographs of California skateparks.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY IMAGO GALLERIES
Artist Randy Palumbo's glass "Blossoms" work is on display at Imago Galleries in Palm Desert.

Hohmann in Palm Desert will present work by sculptors jd Hansen, Claudia Meyer, and Julian Voss-Andreae, among others.

Imago Galleries in Palm Desert will present work by Jeremy Kidd, who is known for his painting, sculpture, digital and installation art; and sculptor Randy Polumbo, whose recent projects include glass “Blossom” works, and immersive environments from Bombay Beach to MONA in Tasmania.

Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert will present work by artists Anthony James, Andy Moses, and Olivia Steele, among others — all of whom are evolutionarily connected to the light and space movement.

Timothy Yarger Fine Art will present work by two light and space artists: Laddie John Dill and Mads Christensen.