This book documents John Divola: As Far as I Could Get, a collaborative exhibition organizied by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, with different components shown simultaneously at SBMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Pomona College Museum of Art. Encompassing four decades of work in the field of photography, it examines the art of John Divola, one of the most admired photographers working today.
Ten major series by John Divola are explored. Starting with Vandalism, his iconic look at Southern California in the 1970s, and including his most recent work, the Theodore Street project, this collection of beautifully reproduced images shows how expertly Divola moves between medium and technique. Using Polaroids of sculpted objects, appropriated stereographs, and landscapes featuring his own image, Divola’s diverse body of work explores painting and conceptual art through his photography. Essays by the accompanying exhibitions’ curators explore themes such as existentialism, California and photography in the 1970s, and natural and built environments. Divola’s most recent project is discussed in an interview between the artist and Simon Baker.