Peter Kennard: An Exploration of Activist Art

Peter Kennard’s Archive of Dissent exhibition at The Whitechapel Gallery is a powerful retrospective that explores over five decades of politically engaged art. Known for his distinct style of photomontage, Kennard has consistently used his art to critique war, inequality, and environmental degradation, making him one of the most influential activist artists of his generation. The exhibition is not just a showcase of Kennard’s work but a journey through the tumultuous socio-political landscape of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, highlighting how art can serve as a tool for protest and change.

"Kennard’s powerful imagery is not simply an attack on war and its machinery; it is a passionate plea for change and peace." 

Tate Modern

Early Influences and Anti-War Activism

The exhibition opens with some of Kennard’s earliest works from the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by his growing disillusionment with the Vietnam War and nuclear proliferation. One of the standout pieces from this era is Broken Missile (1980), which depicts a missile snapped in half against a black background. This work became a defining image of the anti-nuclear movement and demonstrates Kennard’s mastery of photomontage – a technique that allowed him to create images that are immediately arresting and intellectually provocative. The simplicity of the imagery in Broken Missile belies its powerful message: a call for the dismantling of nuclear arsenals and a plea for peace.

Campaigning for Nuclear Disarmament

Another significant section of the exhibition is dedicated to Kennard’s involvement with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the 1980s. Moving into the 1990s and 2000s, Kennard’s work becomes increasingly focused on the global economic order and its impact on developing countries. His ability to speak to the most pressing issues of our time through his art is a testament to his enduring commitment to social justice and his belief in the power of visual culture to inspire change.

"Peter Kennard has mastered the art of visual protest. His images don't just speak; they shout, compelling viewers to engage with the world's injustices." 

ArtReview

Materiality as Message

One of the striking aspects of the Archive of Dissent exhibition is its emphasis on the materiality of Kennard’s work. Many of the pieces are displayed unframed and directly mounted onto the walls, giving them a raw and immediate presence. This presentation style reflects Kennard’s belief in the accessibility and democratization of art – his works are not meant to be precious objects but tools for communication and activism. The tactile quality of the photomontages, with their layers of cut and torn paper, adds a physical dimension to the works that mirrors the visceral impact of their political content.

Continuity and Urgency in Activist Art

Throughout the exhibition, Kennard’s work is characterized by a deep sense of urgency and a call to action. His art is not merely reflective but is intended to provoke a response from the viewer, to encourage them to question, resist, and act. By revisiting and recontextualizing his past works, Kennard underscores the continuity of struggle and the need for sustained resistance against injustice.

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Behind the Art: Kennard’s Creative Process

The Archive of Dissent exhibition also provides a rare glimpse into Kennard’s creative process, with several sections dedicated to his sketchbooks, drafts, and unfinished works. These behind-the-scenes materials offer valuable insights into how Kennard develops his ideas and compositions, revealing a meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to experimentation. This aspect of the exhibition underscores Kennard’s belief in the importance of process over product, highlighting the evolving nature of his practice and his openness to collaboration and dialogue.

World Markets: The Underlying Systems that Govern our World

Peter Kennard’s World Markets is a powerful series of 16 broadsheet newspaper double-spreads that deconstructs and critiques global economic systems. Created in the early 1990s, the series uses photomontage to expose the intersections between corporate interests, economic exploitation, and social injustice.

Each spread in World Markets combines mass media images with Kennard’s signature cut-and-paste aesthetic, overlaying stock market reports, financial headlines, and images of suffering and poverty to draw attention to the human cost of unregulated capitalism. The series is deeply political and challenges viewers to think critically about the underlying systems that govern our world.

One of the defining aspects of World Markets is its use of actual newspaper layouts as a medium, lending authenticity to the works while heightening the immediacy of Kennard’s message. By mimicking the familiar format of financial news, Kennard subverts the usual function of economic reporting, exposing the “hidden” impact of market fluctuations on vulnerable populations.

These pages often juxtapose symbols of wealth and abundance – like skyscrapers, stock prices, and affluent bankers – with stark images of war, famine, and environmental degradation. This visual dissonance is designed to make viewers question the ways in which wealth is amassed and maintained at the expense of human and environmental well-being.

In one particularly striking spread, Kennard overlays an image of a starving child with the headlines of a booming stock market, creating a haunting contrast between financial growth and human suffering. The image serves as a reminder that economic prosperity, as celebrated in financial markets, often coexists with profound social inequality.

Kennard’s layered approach, where images bleed into one another and fragmented text disrupts traditional layouts, reflects the fragmented and often obscured nature of information in the media, suggesting that what is reported is only part of the truth. Another notable spread in the series depicts factory smoke merging into stock charts, symbolizing the environmental destruction linked to industrial and economic growth.

Kennard uses this composition to critique the destructive tendencies of capitalism, suggesting that the true “cost” of financial success includes irreparable harm to our planet. These spreads are both an indictment of corporate greed and a lament for the loss of ecological balance, which Kennard sees as a consequence of prioritizing profit over sustainability.

World Markets is more than just a critique of capitalism; it’s a call to awareness and action. By using newspaper double-spreads, Kennard confronts the viewer with the unsettling reality that such devastating issues are often hidden in plain sight. His work demands that we look beyond the sanitized pages of financial news and consider the social and environmental implications of unchecked market forces.

This series stands as a significant example of Kennard’s ability to use everyday formats and familiar imagery to make powerful statements about global inequity and the responsibilities we share in addressing it.

Boardroom: Multimedia Installations and Expanding Critique

Boardroom (2022) by Peter Kennard is a haunting installation that uses salvaged industrial materials to critique corporate influence on global conflict and environmental degradation. The paper sheets, adorned with shadowy, faceless portraits representing the general public, hang on the boards, forming a backdrop that signifies the often-invisible masses impacted by corporate decisions.

Over these portraits, Kennard projects logos of powerful oil and arms companies, such as Shell, BP, and BAE Systems. These projections symbolize how these corporations’ interests intersect with and exploit the lives of ordinary people, often in devastating ways. The anonymous faces of “The People” convey a sense of voicelessness, implying that those affected by the extraction of resources or the sale of weaponry have little agency in these transactions.

The stark juxtaposition of corporate symbols with everyday faces emphasizes that the true cost of these companies’ activities is paid by individuals worldwide, particularly those in developing nations impacted by the environmental destruction of oil extraction or the collateral damage of weapons used in conflict zones like Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza.

The choice of reclaimed, rough materials adds a raw, tactile quality to the piece, underscoring themes of decay and exploitation. By using this corporate imagery – a symbol of power and privilege – Kennard highlights the imbalance between decision-makers and those who suffer the consequences of these decisions. In this way, Boardroom serves as both a protest and a visual meditation on the consequences of unchecked corporate power, urging viewers to consider the hidden costs of these industries on people and the planet.

"Kennard's work is a searing indictment of political complacency and consumerism. His photomontages force us to confront the harsh realities we often ignore." 

The Guardian

Double Exposure: Exploring New Mediums for Political Critique

Double Exposure (2023) is one of Peter Kennard’s latest works featured in the Archive of Dissent exhibition at The Whitechapel Gallery, showcasing his continued innovation in activist art. A collaborative work with Nigel Brown, this piece breaks new ground by illuminating pigment prints made on pages of the Financial Times, using LED lights that create a dynamic, interactive experience. By printing images directly onto the Financial Times, Kennard critiques the newspaper’s role as a voice of finance and capitalism, repurposing it as a canvas for his protest art. The controlled illumination of the prints brings new life to the pages, highlighting and fading certain details, which makes the work come alive with a sense of urgency and movement.

The use of LED lights is pivotal in Double Exposure, allowing Kennard to orchestrate a carefully timed interplay between light and shadow across the financial newsprint. The controlled lighting shifts across the surface, revealing and concealing parts of the imagery in a way that echoes the selective narratives often presented in the media. This shifting visibility suggests that certain truths are only partially illuminated or deliberately obscured in mainstream media and corporate communication. By manipulating light in this way, Kennard invites viewers to question the narratives and biases that often underlie media portrayals of global socio-economic issues.

Each pigment print on the Financial Times pages features Kennard’s hallmark visuals of protest and social critique, recontextualized to juxtapose the polished, corporate language of finance with stark imagery that reflects societal costs often ignored by the financial sector. The newspaper sheets, symbols of corporate wealth and market-driven perspectives, serve as a foil for Kennard’s more human-centered messages. This contrast emphasizes the dissonance between the priorities of financial elites and the realities faced by those impacted by policies driven by profit. As viewers interact with the piece, they are reminded of the layers of control and influence shaping both financial markets and public perception.

Double Exposure is a testament to Kennard’s evolving approach to photomontage, as he combines technology with traditional print mediums to engage viewers on multiple sensory levels. By merging light technology with tactile newspaper sheets, Kennard redefines photomontage as an interactive, multi-dimensional experience that reflects the complexity of media manipulation and economic power. This work challenges viewers to move beyond passive observation, inviting them to question the stories they consume and the realities these narratives support. Through this evolving artistic approach, Kennard continues to provoke critical thought, pushing the boundaries of political art in a digital age.

Curation as Activism

Archive of Dissent is not just an exhibition but a call to arms. It reminds us of the power of art to challenge the status quo, to speak truth to power, and to inspire action. Kennard’s work is a testament to the enduring relevance of activist art in an age of political uncertainty and social unrest. By tracing the trajectory of his career and his unwavering commitment to social justice, the exhibition offers a powerful reminder of the role of the artist as an agent of change.

Furthermore, the exhibition’s curation itself serves as a form of activism, deliberately placing Kennard’s works in conversation with each other and with the socio-political contexts they address. The careful juxtaposition of pieces from different periods and movements creates a dynamic narrative that challenges the viewer to consider the interconnections between various forms of oppression and resistance. This curatorial strategy not only enhances the impact of the individual works but also underscores the ongoing relevance of Kennard’s artistic vision.

The Power of Art in Activism

Peter Kennard’s “Archive of Dissent” at The Whitechapel Gallery is a powerful and thought-provoking exhibition that highlights the crucial role of art in activism and social change. Through his mastery of photomontage and his commitment to addressing the most pressing issues of our time, Kennard has created a body of work that is both visually arresting and politically charged.

The exhibition is a testament to his enduring influence as an artist and activist, offering a compelling reminder of the power of art to challenge, inspire, and mobilize. As we navigate an increasingly complex and divided world, Kennard’s work serves as a crucial reminder of the need for critical engagement and collective action in the face of injustice.

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***Peter Kennard’s Archive of Dissent runs until January 19th 2025

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