The mystery of the desert begins with the barren land dotted with cactus, mesquite and Joshua trees and scattered palm-laden oases. The area has motivated architects to go wild with innovative ideas for urban modernism. Solving the desert mystery is the objective of “Desert Vibes,” a photography exhibition exploring the Western landscape through photography and digital art.
Delphine Bordas and Matthew Bamberg, artists at the Desert Art Center in downtown Palm Springs, explore the contrasting scenes of the West from the organic forms and shades of gray in Borda’s black and white prints to Bamberg’s rendition of the vivid colors and shapes of mid-century modern signage and architecture.
To put the landscape puzzle together, one must consider the towering mountain ranges that prevent rain-producing clouds from entering the inland portions of the West, creating an endless array of thorny cacti and tiny-leafed brush rising from the sandy terrain under the blistering sun.
Bordas’ outdoor desert playland of light and texture encapsulates the mysteries of nature’s beauty and spirituality in an arid land. She is not into capturing reality, as the focus of the black-and-white prints created for the exhibition depict the desert’s serenity and warm spirit of cacti, mesquite, and sage. Her life-affirming art unravels the desert’s hot, dry environment and converts it to an experiment of light and shadow.
The West’s development mystery can be seen in Bamberg’s digitized photography that evokes mystique of humans’ enthrallment with the modernism that came after the machines of the industrial age streamlined building processes and designs. The last century’s technology advances necessitated a call for architects and artists to update technological and aesthetic elements to match the movement of people in mass-produced vehicles — planes, trains and automobiles.
The West responded with partially replacing Spanish architecture with minimalist modern design, so that new materials could be used for protection from the West’s hot temperatures. Along came rooftops extending beyond the steel, concrete and glass to direct cooling shadows and to frame mountain views. Streets and highways were built with themed neon signage that have played the role of highway flypaper to captivate travelers and encourage them to stop to shop, eat and sleep.
For many years, Bordas’ interest in the natural desert stems from the varied forms of plant life to produce compelling images, highlighting bulging trunks of vegetation that serve as water storage units among twisted branches of thorns in a near-rainless land. Both photographers use optimal light that enhances shape and form of objects depicted.
Since 2000, Bamberg has processed images of signage and original building designs in order to isolate them as art. His computer-driven images are freed from the background clutter in order to emphasize their bright eye-candied colors and unique geometric shapes. Adding the creative architectural edge to highways and surface streets served up a picture-perfect environment to create the Disneyesque Tomorrowland edifices featured in Bamberg’s digital photography. The mystery of design in his images shows how new technology (neon) motivated businesses to erect eye-popping, car-stopping structures into the barren, dusty outdoor space. Googie-style buildings serviced the new culture of mobility: themed motels, gas stations, roadside cafes, convenience stores and drive-in restaurants.
Bamberg’s photography transports viewers back in time to a campy universe of urban color that once was. With the intent to preserve history for future generations many of the structures he has captured have been exposed to the wrecking ball and no longer exist and/or the perils of redesign.
The solved mysteries are on display at the photography and digital art expo this weekend at the Desert Art Center.
If you go
What: Featured artists Delphine Bordas and Matthew Bamberg present duo architecture and landscape photography exhibition “Desert Vibes.”
When: Wine reception is 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 18, and the gallery is also open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 18 through 20.
Where: Desert Art Center Studio Gallery, 550 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs