John Divola, from Zuma Series, 1977-1978. Courtesy of artist.

In PARIS, LA #11, John Divola, Marius Engh and Dorothée Perret discuss current practice, form, history, and the importance of ambiguity in art.

In 2013, John Divola‘s work was featured in a career-spanning series of exhibitions, titled As Far As I Could Get. It was on view at three Southern California institutions – the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Pomona College Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition at LACMA is still on view until July 6, 2014. Divola’s Zuma Series was also featured in the landmark 2011 survey Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown L.A. His images of abandoned beach shacks, featured in issue #11 of PARIS, LA, remain among the most influential – and appropriated – works of 20th Century photography.

Marius Engh is an artist from Norway who shows in galleries across Europe. At the time of his conversation with John Divola and Dorothée Perret he was enjoying his first extended stay in Los Angeles. How objects tell us stories through layers of space and time is the focus of his work.

Marius Engh, Lead, Follow or Get the Hell Out of the Way, 1-3/1-14, 2008. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Emanuel Layr (Photo by Ralf Kliem)