Review of Archive of Dissent – Powerful Protest Images Beyond Words

Peter Kennard, the acclaimed British political artist, has a photomontage that resonates deeply. It features a skeleton standing solemnly before a dark sea, with its neck morphing into a mushroom cloud. Pale vertebrae blend into the nuclear explosion’s ascent, which eerily seems to form a face. The smoke drifts sideways, resembling ghostly hair. The artistic precision of Kennard’s work transcends words, rendering arguments futile.

At 75, Kennard has mastered creating compelling montages. His works have become both proverbial and classic. Images such as the globe turned into a gas mask, brimming with warheads, or a pair of old hands trying to slice a grimy penny, are iconic. One of his notable works from the early ’80s features John Constable’s Hay Wain loaded with cruise missiles, as if moving through the English countryside towards Greenham Common.

Kennard’s talent lies in crafting definitive images for protest movements over the decades. His creations remain relevant, as seen in the free newspaper distributed at the Whitechapel retrospective. His old montages are effortlessly updated, highlighting contemporary issues like Gaza and Syria, and subtly referencing Ukraine. The Earth continues to burn within the upturned hemisphere of a military helmet, an image Kennard first crafted in 1988.

The exhibition is held in what was once the old Whitechapel Library, a place where locals sought warmth and literature. The latest installation, aptly named The People’s University of the East End (2024), features a collection of Kennard’s montages on placards, mirroring their presence in London protests but this time without slogans. These images now carry the weight and urgency of our current moment.

Kennard’s montages are suspended on hanging racks, inviting viewers to browse through them like reading the day’s newspaper in an old library. His works include a skeleton mockingly inspecting the government’s 1980 Protect and Survive pamphlet, and the Statue of Liberty’s torch transforming into a weapon of mass destruction. His bold campaigns, such as the Troops Out of Ireland, continue to astonish with their stark revelations of rendition and torture.

Kennard anchors everything in reality. His montages are meticulously constructed from photographs, the essence of montage, with a keen eye for shape and form. For instance, Kennard’s use of a circle illustrates various concepts: planet Earth, a football kicked by a US marine, a riot shield, a clock ticking towards catastrophe. It also becomes a mouth, a plate, a magnifying glass, highlighting the brutal truths within his works.

One montage, for instance, depicts the face of Blair Peach, who was fatally beaten by an officer during a 1979 Anti-Nazi League demonstration, beneath a British bobby’s image on a stamp. Even those unaware of the historical context understand the juxtaposition. Kennard, an emeritus professor of political art at the Royal College of Art, emphasizes visual clarity, ensuring his messages are understood regardless of specific historical knowledge.

Kennard’s powerful images can convey complex issues simply. Even if viewers don’t recognize the 1980s Polish trade union movement’s Solidarity logo, they grasp the bayonet’s attempt to cut through the word. His montages counter political excuses with undeniable simplicity. Often created through direct photography and material gathered from life, these images resonate deeply.

Even for children, Kennard’s works can explain war, racism, dictatorship, corporatism, and greed. Though his leftist politics might not align with everyone’s views, his portrayals are poignant. A 2005 montage of Tony Blair against burning oilfields, though controversial, underscores his point. His optimism can sometimes seem strained, as in depictions of hands shaking while dismantling the Berlin Wall, but those very hands also transform, menacingly reaching into an incubator as missiles.

Kennard excels in depicting paradox, outrage, and deadlock. He portrays modern war concisely, such as a B-52 bomber dropping grainsacks, or capturing the destruction of Cambodia reflected in Henry Kissinger’s glasses. He uses Harold Edgerton’s famous split-second photo of a bullet leaving an apple to show a bullet destroying a miniature world.

Peter Kennard’s extensive and inventive work continues to evolve at the Whitechapel Gallery until next January. His art remains vital and necessary. Amidst political shifts, a visit to this exhibit serves as a stark reminder that progress isn’t always guaranteed. A poignant montage from 1982 of an elderly woman in a closing hospital ward illustrates this. Today, that situation might be even grimmer, with patients stuck in emergency corridors.

Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent is on display at Whitechapel Gallery, London, until 19 January.

Source: A/Political