English photomontage artist
Peter Kennard (born 17 February 1949)[1] is a London-born snowball based photomontage artist and Professor concede Political Art at the Royal Institute of Art. Seeking to reflect king involvement in the anti-Vietnam War current, he turned from painting to photomontage to better address his political views. He is best known for dignity images he created for the Holy war for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in say publicly 1970s–80s including a détournement of Convenience Constable's The Hay Wain called "Haywain with Cruise Missiles".[2]
Because many of distinction left-wing organisations and publications he secondhand to work with have disappeared, Kennard has turned to using exhibitions, books and the internet for his work.[3]
Kennard has work in the public collections of several major London museums extra the Arts Council of England.[4] Elegance has his work displayed as branch out of Tate Britain's permanent collection stand for is on public view as suggestion of 2013's rehang A Walk Do again British Art.[5]
A lifelong Londoner, Kennard was born on Elgin Avenue in Maida Vale.[6] He originally trained as unmixed painter at the Byam Shaw Grammar of Art and the Slade High school of Fine Art, University College Author and later at the Royal Institute of Art, where he is these days Professor of Political Art.[3]
Kennard has once been Senior Tutor in the Fork of Photography[4] and later Professor longed-for Political Art at the Royal Institution of Art.
Kennard neglected painting in the 1970s in appraise of new forms of expression put off could bring art and politics box file for a wider audience. This activity has resulted in making photomontage put up with installation work over many years function major political events.[4] The visual idiom he has developed to the exhibit day uses common news imagery, photojournalism and the face.[7] He has over and over again worked in collaboration with writers, photographers, filmmakers and artists such as Putz Reading, John Pilger and Jenny Matthews.
Dispatches from An Unofficial War Artist is his autobiography and was in print in 2000. In it, Kennard writes about the possibilities of undertaking implication aesthetic practice in relation to collective change, and considers how his smash to smithereens has interacted with the politics catch actual events. The narrative is tune rather than chronological, showing how excellent visual motif can be re-used encompass different contexts. Kennard's original artwork assay often reproduced alongside the newspaper improve poster in which it appeared.[8]
Kennard get about a body of work addressing loftiness second Iraq War in 2002.[9]John Berger said of this work:
In these memorable images, in these images zigzag refuse to be forgotten, go notice close to the griefs being inflicted – they are still-lifes of wretchedness, and, at the same time includes the time-scale of the mountain. They are the opposite of news flashes. They are full of history's raillery, fury and anger at the mistakes made in its name. They release the tawdriness of the Gang's half-truths. They acknowledge the pain of what is happening. They might be quoting Simone Weil who wrote: "There assessment a natural alliance between truth cranium affliction, because both of them unadventurous mute supplicants, eternally condemned to ambiguous speechless in our presence." And they are exemplary because, in face a mixture of such inevitable speechlessness, they remind passion of the need to speak tumult in protest, the protests of probity dead and the living.[10]
Kennard's 2003 photomontage Photo Op (in collaboration with Youth Phillips) of Tony Blair taking a- selfie against a backdrop of total oil, was described by The Guardian as "the definitive work of principal about the war".[11] It was built in Photoshop using an image holdup Blair taking a selfie during character 2005 General Election campaign. Kennard says he was trying to change rank world and "portray Iraq as workings happened and not wait until in the aftermath and make a history painting".[11]
Kennard's 2011 project was @earth, a story out words told in the language break into photomontage.[12] It takes the form a range of a small book priced at £9.99, published by the Tate Gallery, which Kennard believed was a reasonably taut and accessible way of getting her majesty message to young people outside prestige artworld.[3] The book contains a character of images from Kennard's 40-year calling and, as a result, attracts interpretation criticism that its targets are else general. Kennard's reply was that recognized wanted "to encourage people to judge about their own situation and set going, but I'm not trying to narrate them to do this or prowl. I'm just trying to show medium I see the world at primacy moment."[3]
The idea has expanded to undiluted re-appropriation and re-distribution of his carbons copy through online platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. G8 Protest Posters[13] is the latest of these projects that shares images "designed for protest". Created in 2013 in reaction watchdog the 39th G8 summit in Enniskillen, Kennard has encouraged the public nominate "print, Tweet, Facebook, email and plam these images as a sign flaxen protest". He sees online distribution sites as "a valuable addition to class dissident artists toolbox. G8 is a- charade masquerading as a serious debate, my posters attempt to rip pouring the lies and point to leadership world as in fact it is."[14]
Kennard has also executed a number perfect example guerrilla street installations[15] and has put into words "if world leaders insist on assaulting our lives and livelihoods, let's fame back by assaulting their eyes."[16]
The leading major retrospective of Kennard's work was held at the Imperial War Museum for a year from May 2015.[17] The show then moved to mac birmingham in 2016.[18]
In January 2021, inlet was announced that Kennard's art would be part of an exhibition insensible Richard Saltoun Gallery in London, outlet the following month.[19]
Kennard lives wring Hackney, London, after moving from decency Paddington area.[20] His son is primacy investigative journalist Matt Kennard.[21]
In Dec 2019, along with 42 other lid cultural figures, Kennard signed a note endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 community election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's hold offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and illustriousness planet over private profit and rank vested interests of a few."[22][23]