A new exhibition explores California’s counterculture through the art of Nicki Marx
A new exhibition opening this month at Hi-Desert Artists in Yucca Valley brings an important chapter of California art history to the Morongo Basin. The show features the work of artist Nicki Marx, whose feather-based jewelry and wearable art became part of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Reporter Hilary Sloane explains why this exhibition matters…
Nicki Marx was known for transforming natural materials, including feathers, bark, shells, and other found objects, into wearable works of art.
According to curator Katie Nartonis, Marx emerged from California’s post-World War II studio art movement. This is a period when artists returned from the war, entered universities under the GI Bill, and began establishing independent studios across the state.
“What is so counterculture about it is that a lot of young people were dropping out; they were rejecting the corporate nine-to-five culture that their parents had been living in, and people like Nicki decided there was a better way to live. “
Marks became nationally known for her featherwork and counted artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Nevelson among her collectors. Her work has been exhibited in museums and is represented in major collections.
Nartonis is now bringing that history to the Morongo Basin through a new exhibition titled Crafting the Counterculture.
Nartonis says the exhibition is part of a broader effort to connect local artists and audiences with major movements in California art history and to position High Desert Artists as a destination for both contemporary and historical exhibitions.
The exhibition opens Saturday, July 18, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hi-Desert Artists Gallery in Yucca Valley and runs through September 16.
An accompanying lecture on Nicki Marx and the California counterculture art movement is scheduled for August 20.
