John Divola

John Divola’s photographs of landscapes and interiors complicate and challenge our perception of space. An MFA graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Divola frequently engaged with Southern California’s diverse ecosystems in his work, training his lens on the surreality of sites like suburban lawns and untamed deserts. He received early recognition for his “Zuma” series (1977–78), which documented the scars of firefighters training at a beachfront property in Malibu. One print from this project sold for $16,723 at a 2017 auction. Divola’s witty, conceptual approach to imagemaking led to his inclusion in both the 1981 and 2017 Whitney Biennials. Inspired by Minimalism and Earthworks, Divola understood photography as a uniting medium; his practice synthesized performance and painting with documentary. A Guggenheim Fellow, he has works in museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Hammer Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.