The Palm Springs Art Museum is inviting visitors to experience some of Palm Springs’ most iconic architectural landmarks in an entirely new light — moonlight.
Opening this season, Lake Verea: DarkRooms and Other Games showcases the work of Mexico City–based artist duo Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea, who have collaborated as Lake Verea since 2005. Through experimental analog photography and immersive artistic processes, the pair transforms celebrated desert modernist homes into atmospheric portraits filled with mystery, intimacy, and quiet emotion.
The exhibition focuses on architectural icons including Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra, as well as Frey House II and the Aluminaire House by legendary modernist architect Albert Frey. Rather than photographing these structures beneath Palm Springs’ famous sunshine, Lake Verea captures them under full moonlight, revealing textures, shadows, and emotional nuances often hidden during the day.
“Palm Springs has long been a place where architecture and creative experimentation intersect,” said Christine Vendredi, JoAnn McGrath Executive Director of Palm Springs Art Museum. “Lake Verea’s work invites us to slow down and reconsider these architectural landmarks, revealing how design can be experienced through atmosphere, time, and human presence.”
Known for their patient and meditative approach, the artists work primarily with analog photography, often inserting themselves subtly into the compositions. Their presence within the images creates moments that feel deeply personal — almost as if viewers are witnessing private midnight encounters with these celebrated homes.
Guest curator Mimi Zeiger says the exhibition explores themes beyond architecture itself.
“Lake Verea’s artworks consider elemental themes of light and darkness, joy and stillness,” Zeiger said. “By inhabiting and photographing these modern homes, they raise an unspoken question: Just what happens in these domestic spaces in the moonlit hours?”
In addition to photography, the exhibition includes tactile works the artists call “frottragraphy,” created by rubbing paper across architectural surfaces to capture the physical imprint of the buildings themselves. These textured pieces expand the duo’s ongoing exploration of photography, performance, touch, and memory while offering audiences a new way to experience architectural history.
Lake Verea: DarkRooms and Other Games is curated by Zeiger and continues Palm Springs Art Museum’s commitment to showcasing innovative contemporary artists whose work intersects with the region’s celebrated design legacy.
For more information, visit Palm Springs Art Museum.