John Divola, Vandalism Series, 1973-1975, 64 x 61,5 cm, Gelatin Silver Print
TITLE_NAME :
Vandalism - John Divola
06/09/2019 - 19/10/2019
ROBERT MORAT
Linienstraße 107
10115 Berlin
www.robertmorat.de
Robert Morat presents the exhibition Vandalism by John Divola.
In the early 1970s, Californian photographer John Divola was one of the first to question the limits of his medium, exploring concepts of sculpture, installation, performance and intervention in his iconic, formative series “Vandalism” (1973-1975).
Between 1973 and 1975, the American photographer John Divola – then in his mid twenties and without a studio of his own – travelled across Los Angeles in search of dilapidated properties in which to make photographs. Armed with a camera, spray paint, string and cardboard, the artist would produce one of his most significant photographic projects entitled Vandalism. In this visceral, black and white series of images Divola vandalized vacant homes with abstract constellations of graffiti-like marks, ritualistic configurations of string hooked to pins, and torn arrangements of card, before cataloguing the results. The project vigorously merged the documentary approach with staged interventions echoing performance, sculpture and installation art. Serving as a conceptual sabotaging of the delineations between such documentary and artistic practices, at a time when the ‘truthfulness’ of photography was being called into question, Vandalism helped to establish Divola’s highly distinctive photographic language.
"Vandalism”, the book accompanying the exhibition was published by MACK Books, London in 2018.
06/09/2019 - 19/10/2019
ROBERT MORAT
Linienstraße 107
10115 Berlin
www.robertmorat.de
Robert Morat presents the exhibition Vandalism by John Divola.
In the early 1970s, Californian photographer John Divola was one of the first to question the limits of his medium, exploring concepts of sculpture, installation, performance and intervention in his iconic, formative series “Vandalism” (1973-1975).
Between 1973 and 1975, the American photographer John Divola – then in his mid twenties and without a studio of his own – travelled across Los Angeles in search of dilapidated properties in which to make photographs. Armed with a camera, spray paint, string and cardboard, the artist would produce one of his most significant photographic projects entitled Vandalism. In this visceral, black and white series of images Divola vandalized vacant homes with abstract constellations of graffiti-like marks, ritualistic configurations of string hooked to pins, and torn arrangements of card, before cataloguing the results. The project vigorously merged the documentary approach with staged interventions echoing performance, sculpture and installation art. Serving as a conceptual sabotaging of the delineations between such documentary and artistic practices, at a time when the ‘truthfulness’ of photography was being called into question, Vandalism helped to establish Divola’s highly distinctive photographic language.
"Vandalism”, the book accompanying the exhibition was published by MACK Books, London in 2018.