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It owes its name to The Brothers Karamazov. Why the wife of a railway engineer stationed in the nineteenth century to this remote settlement in Presidio County was named after a character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel is unknown. But we do know that in his honor this town of the Texan Wild West was baptized, which years later with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution would host a cavalry base – like the entire Rio Grande and adjacent communities – to fight against Pancho Villa.

Before Marfa became a coveted Instagram location, James Dean, Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson shot the movie Giant (1956) here. Half a century later so would the Oscar-winning Wells of Ambition with Daniel Day Lewis as the protagonist and No Country for Old Men by the Cohen brothers with Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem among its cast. And yet, if there is only one responsible for putting Marfa on the map, it is the American Donald Judd (1928-1994), an emblematic (and fascinating) figure in the history of post-war art.

Disenchanted by the paths of the artistic world, in 1971 Judd changed New York for the warm and sterile vastness of Marfa. Among all the places he visited in the southeastern United States, he made this place his residence until his death in 1994 "because it was the most beautiful and the most practical." Roughly speaking, his goal was to have space for large permanent installations of his work, as well as other contemporary artists -Dan Flavin, Frank Stella, John Chamberlain, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Irwin-, whose work he collected.

A strong advocate of the purity of art, from his point of view committed on numerous occasions by traditional museums, Judd's vision for the ideal experience of his work encompassed not only the piece of art itself, but also the circumstances of scale and durability, the space in which the work was located, as well as the natural environment in which it was perceived.

Chamberlain Building.ALEX MARKS / CHINATI FOUNDATION

To do this, it acquired two abandoned hangars and barracks from World War II, as well as eleven buildings in the urban center of Marfa, which since the middle of last year has been recognized at the federal level by the National Register of Historic Places. There almost two hundred buildings gather around Highland Avenue, the commercial artery of Marfa, in a postcard with Art Deco brushstrokes -the style linked to the economic boom of Texas in the early twentieth century-, but above all of Hispanic heritage.

Built mostly in adobe, its architectural style – pueblo, colonial, Mexican – evidences its location and its close relationship with New Mexico and southern Arizona. Judd had much to do with the preservation of this legacy, which today is guarded by the Judd Foundation. Through this (it is essential to book in advance) you can visit his art and architecture studios that house his earliest work in addition to his furniture, today iconic pieces of contemporary design, as well as what was his residence, his private enclosure, La Mansana de Chinati, where we find his library with 13,000 volumes ordered by the date of birth of their authors.

Also in the historic center is the 1943 building, former headquarters of the Marfa Wool & Mohair Company, which Judd adapted to house the work of sculptor John Chamberlain. Veiled today by the Chinati Foundation, in total there are 25 imposing pieces that through components of old cars convert the abstract expressionist style of painting into three dimensions.

Chamberlain Building.ALEX MARKS / CHINATI FOUNDATION

Land Art: From Chinati...

With the same name of the nearby mountains, the same ones whose black silhouette cut out the horizontal emptiness of the desert, there is no better place to experience the relationship between art, architecture and landscape as Judd aspired than at the Chinati Foundation, a mile from the historic center.

Composed of 137.5 hectares and the buildings of the former Fort D.A. Russell military base, this museum started in 1978 houses Judd's vital project. On the outside, they follow one another like a mirage in this landscape that seems to have no end to its 15 pieces of concrete assembled in situ with the exact same measures: 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 meters with 25 centimeters thick each.

In the old concrete and brick warehouses that once held several hundred German prisoners of war - on their walls you can still read "Den kopf benutzen ist besser als ihn verlieren (using the head is better than losing it)" - Judd installed 100 pieces of identical dimension in aluminum, which depending on the position of the sun acquire different shades, They expand and shrink, in so many possibilities that they provide an inexplicable experience.

For their part, the old U-shaped barracks house the ad hoc work of Dan Flavin, which he could not see finished in life. His Untitled (Marfa Project) of 1996 is composed of 12 installations of his representative neon art, with colors combined enigmatically, located in the six tunnels that connected the barracks. Thus, like a set of mirrors, they can be seen from both sides in total fullness thanks to the nakedness of the cement of the constructions that welcome them.

Judd.D.'s enigmatic pieces TUCK / CHINATI FOUNDATION

In the same way, the work Dawn to Dusk (2016) by Robert Irwin is inextricably linked to the old military hospital, built in 1919, where it is located. Its symmetrical architecture allowed it to divide the building in two: leaving one part dark and the other illuminated, but also linking the interior with the exterior, in which it is the only permanent, independent structure, conceived and designed by Irwin as a total work of art.

... To Prada

It is fair to say, then, that thanks to his Chinati Judd Foundation he turned Marfa into a cultural magnet after which came other artists, many attracted by the quality of light, and also gallery owners. In addition to art fairs such as the brand new Marfa Invitational, it is estimated that there are twenty galleries in this population of 2,000 souls, in which everything from Indian-inspired textile pieces to NFTs are exhibited.

Ballroom Marfa, established in 2003, was the first gallery to open and also responsible for commissioning the most instagrammable place hundreds of miles around: the Prada Marfa store, which is not a store or is (exactly) in Marfa, but about 40 miles away, on a bare road, where they stop from hikers on their way to Big Bend National Park to bloggers who come to take their picture at Ferrari.

In 2005, together with the NGO Art Production Fund, Ballroom Marfa commissioned this permanent land art work to the Scandinavian duo Elmgreen & Dragset. Modeled after a Prada boutique, the structure includes items from that year's fall collection. However, the sculpture will never function as a trade: the door cannot be opened.

There is no lack, however, of recommended shops in Marfa: Wrong, Communitie, Mano Mercantile the glamping El Cósmico, as well as the café The Sentinel -where they publish the local newspaper, the oldest in the region, The Big Bend Sentinel-, or Garza Marfa of furniture, textiles and design, are good examples.

The gastronomic offer has been giving titles and headlines for decades: From the homemade food of Marfa Burritos that Ramona Tejada serves at home, and that has countless followers, some anonymous and others not so much – like Matthew McConaughey or the late Anthony Bourdain, as attested by their happy faces in the photos hanging on the walls – to the acclaimed Cochineal, and its sophisticated seasonal menu. Of course, you could not miss the typical Texas barbecue and the brisket of Convenience West BBQ does not disappoint, in the same way that neither does the homemade food of Margaret's in Marfa.

Also, we said, books have been published, such as Cooking in Marfa by Phaidon, in which Virginia Lebermann, co-founder of Ballroom Marfa and co-owner of the Thunderbird Hotel, shares her recipes together with her husband, chef Rocky Barnette, who worked for a decade at The Inn at Little Washington, the first and only three Michelin stars in Washington DC. before settling in Marfa.

Of cowboys and hipsters

There is also no shortage of wine bars -such as Marfa Wine Co or Para Llevar (Bodega & Deli)-, stylish cocktail bars, such as Veil, or of course avocado toasts, such as the homemade bread bars of Do Your Thing, where they serve excellent coffee. Yes, gentrification has also reached this remote corner of Texas, despite being in the middle of nowhere.

However, there are still places to take the pulse of the local community, such as the Lost Horse Saloon bar – yes, there are cowboys, there are hipsters, the whole town fits here – or in Jett's Gril, the restaurant of the Paisano hotel. Open since 1930, in its time it was considered "the most elegant hotel between El Paso and San Antonio", of course its usual clientele were ranchers who came here to sell and buy cattle.

In any case, it will always be remembered for being the place chosen by Warner Bros to host for six weeks the film crew of Giant, the last film that James Dean shot before dying in a traffic accident with 24 years. And, it seems incredible, but some of that nostalgic Hollywood golden aura remains.

Then there are the lights, the Marfa Lights, which since the nineteenth century captivate with their mystery. In the direction of the town of Alpine, on US Highway 90, since in 1883 a young cowboy saw some lights dancing in the sky that he confused with the bonfire of Apache Indians, there are many who have come here fascinated by this inexplicable phenomenon, which for some is a simple atmospheric phenomenon, for others, something paranormal.

What is certain is that Marfa with its nomadic austerity and the warmth of the desert has, in its own immensity, in its purest nothingness, something intangible that cannot be explained. Something that catches you and no longer lets you escape.

PRACTICAL GUIDE

HOW TO GET THERE. Unless you have a private jet, the nearest airports are El Paso and Midland, about three hours away by car. From Spain, the most reasonable option is to fly non-stop to Dallas with Iberia. From there it is seven hours by car.

WHERE TO SLEEP. In El Cósmico (elcosmico.com), a boho-chic institution composed of tents and caravans around a lodge that serves as a living room and community dining room. Also in the Saint George hotel (www.marfasaintgeorge.com) is the most conventional option with the seal of Design Hotels.

LEARN MORE. About Marfa in visitmarfa.com; About Donald Judd in chinati.org and juddfoundation.org

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