Paris Photo 2021 (contd) To make this series of black and white photographs, Divola fixed his camera to a tripod, set the self-timer for ten seconds and, while staying in frame, ran as far and as fast as he could from it. The resulting images − of the artist sprinting away from his own apparatus − are clumsy and poignant, ultimately speaking to the uncertain stakes of failure and validation that persist throughout his oeuvre. In one of the 12 photographs that makes up the series ‘As Far as I Could Get/RO2F06’ (1996–7), Divola tears through the desert, toward a vast, California openness; the shutter clicked just as his head appeared to be severed from his body by a distant horizon line. How many times did he run until he got that shot? It’s a picture of two different pictures, below and above; it’s a picture of a ghost; it’s a picture of arrested mortality. (Carmen Winant, Frieze Magazine) JOHN DIVOLA Untitled (from "As far as I could get"), 1996-97 Archival b&w pigment print mounted to Dibond 86.4 x 61 cms 34 1/50 x 24 1/50 inches Edition of 8 plus 1 AP © John Divola 2021 Courtesy of Louise Alexander Gallery #parisphoto #johndivola #louisealexandergallery #afprojects