MARFA

WEBSITE: WWW.VISITMARFA.COM
LOCATION: MARFA, TEXAS 79843, USA
NEAREST AIRPORTS: EL PASO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 3.5HOURS DRIVE

Marfa is a small town in the Texan desert and the mecca for minimalism. In the 70’s, the father of minimalist art, Donald Judd, started buying land which marked the beginning of what would become an art community in the barren desert.

The Judd Foundation has two sites in America – in Marfa and New York. Where Marfa trumps New York is the use of horizon, land and space in displaying Judd’s sculptures. The Chinati Foundation was founded by Judd for the display of large-scale works features his works and art done by other artists such as Carl Andre, Richard Long, Roni Horn, to name a few.

In addition to the Art, people flock and gather in Marfa to glimpse natural nighttime phenomenon called the Marfa Lights, often cited as UFOs. The community, a whopping 1,981 people, have embraced their fate as an art community. The ‘surrealness’ of Marfa is not lost on visiting artists, which, I suspect, is what led Elmgreen and Dragset to open their Prada store there.

Over time, other galleries and museums opened in Marfa like Ballroom Marfa or The Ayn Foundation. Visitors can trek in the area, see the outdoor art and installations, wander through the foundations and museums, and enjoy the lights over a Texas steak and corn bread. The strap-line for Marfa, quite rightly, is: Tough to get to, tougher to explain, but once you get here, you get it.

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