But Yesterday You Said Tomorrow

I recently received a grant from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Archibald Motley Fund to conduct research on Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum in Joshua Tree, CA. This will be an extension of over a year’s worth of research focused on the High Desert Test Sites Project. Noah Purifoy was a Los Angeles-based artist, activist and teacher. In 1964, he became the first director of the Watts Towers Art Center. During his time in Watts, the artist stressed the importance of defining a Black Aesthetic through the work of assemblage.

Noted works of art include Watts Uprising Remains, a found object assemblage sculpture Purifoy sourced from the charred remains of 103rd Street—dubbed “Charcoal Alley”—after the Watts Uprising. The visceral quality of the object’s surface combines with Purifoy’s interest in Dada and Surrealism to create an object that is a shadow of its past, a remnant. Within his work the artist interspersed an interest in Dada theory, reinterpretation of the found object, and the democratization of the practice of art. Watts Uprising Remains was shown in the “66 Signs of Neon” exhibition, which traveled nationally through 1969.

In 1989, Purifoy moved east from Los Angeles to the desert community of Joshua Tree. He began assembling works of art from objects he had accumulated while living in Los Angeles. “Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum” became the manifestation of the artist’s desire to make art accessible to all. The curious placement of the sculptures in the middle of the desert is a conscious critique of what he may have believed to be restrictions inherent to the environment of the white cube. Purifoy came under great scrutiny for his work at the site, and the municipal government ordered him to halt work on more than one occasion; citing building violations and lack of permits as the main reason. This site is one of the active sites in the High Desert Test Sites project.