Currently on exhibit through March 7, 2009 at Gallery Luisotti is a current photographic series by John Divola, titled Dark Star. This series is an evolution of his ongoing larger series of work at abandoned homes and facilities, at which he paints, then photographs his on-site installations. This new work is also exhibited with some of Divola’s vintage black & white photographs of his earliest work, Vandalism.
This series of photographs could start with a overview photograph of an installation piece (bottom image), then Divola progressivly photographs closer and closer to his painting, which in turn, continues to increase the abstraction. He paints with a dense black, creating soft edges, but leaves a high glossy surface, which picks up the ambient light to illuminate the surface textures of the found surfaces that he favors. The photographed black circle then has a full spectrum of colors and highlights.
As the most abstract of his painting/photographs, they take on a minimalist appearance, such as the color field paintings of Mark Rothko, and the lines, spaces and shapes of Robert Motherwell and those of that school in the 1960’s. Where Divola’s painting/photographs differ is with his use of a combination of soft and hard edges, and the inclusion of reality on the edges of his photographs.
As the least abstract of his recent work, it seems to be documenting his painting installation, such as you might of Christo’s Running Fence. For it is obvious, the paintings are insito, they are not going anywhere, but left to the elements in the abandon buildings. Thus the remaining artifact of the installation artwork is the documentary photographs and the act of photographing them. In this case, Divola, takes it a step towards an interpretative document to add another creative dimension to his paintings.
But then, what do we make of these dark circles and the surrounding color field? A dark flat circle does seem ominous, with no features, unless you look closely. There are traces of highlights and a slight tonality, perhaps pointing to Hope in the dismal morass of life. Those paintings which are photographed with more ambient light have also a wider spectrum of blacks and white highlights, so perhaps things, such as the issues of life, are not all just black and white, positive and negative, yin and yang. There is something in between, even in the potential ugliness of an abandon building, perhaps soon to be totally condemned and obviated.
These are painting/photographs that are very interesting to observe and reflect on (yes, the pun is intended) and worthy of a second longer and contemplative look. Recommended.
Best regards, Douglas Stockdale
[...] altered interiors reminds me of the work of John Divola, who’s body of photographic work started in the mid-1970’s of appropriating [...]
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