Major Project Influences (4) - Peter Kennard

Following on from the work of John Heartfield , the German pioneer of photomontage, who used this new art form between the wars to denounce Hitler and the Nazis, it is only natural to talk about Peter Kennard, Britain’s leading post-WW2 practitioner of photomontage. Kennard, a strong pacifist, drew inspiration from Heartfield’s work and has now been using this art form to protest against war and injustice for nearly 50 years. Working for organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Amnesty International, his art has appeared on posters, placards and t-shirts across the world.

Although I was familiar with some of Kennard’s most famous art, such as his “reproduction” of Constable’s “The Hay Wain”, in which the hay has been replaced by cruise missiles [the montage was produced at the time of the Greenham Common protests], I hadn’t appreciated the depth and diversity of Kennard’s work until I visited the exhibition: “Peter Kennard: Unofficial War Artist” at The Imperial War Museum, London in 2015. I posted a feature about the exhibition on the blog for my previous level 3 photography course (“Your Own Portfolio”), commenting on how I had found the exhibition both influential and inspirational and that I loved the idea of producing my own photomontage work that had intent and purpose.  At the end I said that I hoped that I would be able to develop this art form in the future. Now this time has come to pass and, although I am using photomontage for a very different purpose, it is rewarding to see again how Kennard has used the medium to create very powerful and provocative art work.

A typical example of Kennard’s work is his Photomontage (image 1), produced shortly after the British Government issued a public information booklet, “Protect and Survive”, suggesting measures to be taken by the public in the event of an imminent nuclear war.

Image 1 (Peter Kennard)

In order for Kennard’s work to be of value it had to be accessible to and understood by the general public, so he used none too subtle motifs such as skulls, guns and missiles to get his messages across. Many of Kennard’s works also deal with humanitarian issues, with world poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor being well represented in artwork such as image 2.

Image 2 (Peter Kennard)

The juxtaposition of the two parts of this photomontage once again deliver a very clear message – in my own work I hope to produce juxtapositions that also tell a story or deliver a message, although they will not be as stark as this!

From all of Kennard’s work I would select his “Decoration” series as my favourite. Strictly speaking the works in this series, of which image 3 is a potent example, are not photomontage, but a combination of digital printing and paint. The 3 metre high canvases juxtapose motifs of the human cost of the Iraq War with established representations of military valour.

Image 3 (Peter Kennard)

These more recent art works display the more subtle and contemplative approach that has characterised Kennard’s recent work. They are of value to me in showing how a strongly creative mind can, by the careful choice of motifs, produce work that carries a powerful message whilst retaining great aesthetic value. The aesthetics associated this series of works must result in an almost overpowering effect when all eighteen are seen together: the exhibition at The Imperial War Museum just showed a few.

Kennard’s work sets new standards for those who wish to follow his lead in (re) establishing photomontage as an important and relevant art form and will continue to influence and guide my own work.