Reviews & Articles

PLEASE NOTE: This review is still being EDITED - full version will be updated by 4 December 2024

Above image:

Peter Kennard, Mandela 1990 Photomontage-Gelatin silver prints and wood on card. Courtesy of the artist and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

Review 

Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent at Whitechapel Gallery

by Taylor Cheng

How should a retrospective exhibition be assembled and viewed? Alongside showcasing an artist’s work, how can a retrospective convey a deeper meaning related to an artist’s practice and foster a closer connection with visitors? The current retrospective exhibition of Peter Kennard at Whitechapel Gallery showcases fifty years of Kennard’s work around his use of newspapers, placards, posters, books and installations. Using a speculative approach revolving around the artist’s practice, the exhibition provides space to sculpt an experience which deepens understanding of Kennard’s passions, thoughts and artistic medium.

Peter Kennard and Photomontage

Kennard is a master of photomontage. Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite work by cutting, rearranging, glueing and overlapping two or more photographs into a new piece. Inspired by German artist John Heartfield, who pioneered montage as a political tool in the 1930s, Kennard transitioned from painting to photomontage in the 1970s after making a much-discussed poster employing an image of a dead Vietnamese child in positive and a U.S. soldier in negative for an anti-Vietnam demonstration. Kennard is well-known in creating iconic photomontages supporting the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament across the 1970s and 80s. His work often reveals the connection between power and suffering through juxtaposing images published in newspapers, posters, and placards on the streets. 

Gallery 5: A Living Archive

Installation views of Gallery 5 in the exhibition Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent (Photos: Taylor Cheng)

The entire exhibition is located in Galleries 5, 6 and 7 at the Whitechapel Gallery. Upon entering Gallery 5, there is a diverse publication display, including Kennard’s previous books, a large-format magazine-like display, made of cardboard, showcasing a collection of Kennard’s posters featuring his use of published photomontages, and stacks of newspapers specially printed for this exhibition featuring Kennard’s work. 

Knowledge dissemination and the integration of art into daily life are central to Kennard’s practice. A wooden table and chairs are provided for visitors to read the books. This display echoes the use of paper as the most common publishing material employed by Kennard. Visitors are also welcome to take home any newspaper. This gallery display illustrates how Kennard’s work has been continually reproduced, activated and circulated through various publishing methods, and now serves as a living archive in the exhibition.

Gallery 6: A Continuation of the Past and Present

Installation view of Gallery 6 in the exhibition Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent (Photo: Taylor Cheng)

In Gallery 6, there are a series of work from the past, a newly commissioned work created in response to the context of Whitechapel Gallery, and a mixed-media installation showcasing the work tools and materials from his studio used in creating his photomontages. 

Peter Kennard: Worktop, Mixed-media installation, 1966-2024 (Detail) (Photo: Taylor Cheng)

A mixed-media installation entitled Worktop showcases the materials that Kennard has collected and employed in his studio to create his photomontages between 1966 and 2024. The installation features scissors, threads, fragmented photos, magazines, books and more. Seeing all the components within the installation overlapping with each other reflects Kennard’s continuous way of seeing and thinking, more as a cohesive cluster than as individual and independent elements.

Peter Kennard: The People’s University of the East End, Mixed media installation, 2024 (Detail) (Photo: Taylor Cheng)

Opposite Worktop is a newly commissioned piece, The People’s University of the East End.  Grounded by vices on the floorto give an edgy realism, this installation of placards on wooden poles, covers social issues from past to present. This new piece echoes the Whitechapel Gallery’s history as a former library and its connections to society and social issues. Reflecting both past and present social concerns, the fixing of the placards on the floor reveals an ongoing dissatisfaction that social problems and suffering still exist, despite the passage of time. 

Standing in this gallery, surrounded by work that addresses the studio materials and social concerns Kennard has engaged in since the 1960s, I felt that Gallery 6 serves as a transition between how Kennard’s art remains connected to contemporary society and reaches out to the public (Gallery 5) while delving into Kennard’s original photomontages and earlier work (Gallery 7), echoing Kennard’s thinking as a continuous form rather than as a binary display.

Gallery 7: A Manifestation of Photomontage

Moving through Galleries 5 and 6 under normal lighting, Gallery 7 has a significant contrast: a dimly lit space, which is quite different from the other two galleries. In this space, I could really see the original earlier work. 

In the centre of Gallery 7, a set of four library lecterns, titled Reading Room, displays newspapers where Kennard’s photomontages had been originally published. One wall features Boardroom, a series where Kennard has employed light, glass and a projection to deconstruct the process of photomontage through blurring human faces by projecting the logos of oil and arms companies onto them, revealing major corporations suppressing the voices of democracy. 

On another wall, 40 pieces of Kennard’s original photomontages, published in newspapers or posters responding to international conflicts, such as the Vietnam War, the threat of nuclear war and climate change, have been reframed and recontextualised as photographic work for showcasing within the gallery. Among the 40 pieces, Stop is also displayed: the first photomontage Kennard made while involved in the anti-Vietnam War protests.

On the other two walls, one installation, Double Exposure, is a projected overlay between Kennard’s work and the Financial Times newspaper using LED lights and Raspberry Pi technology, focusing on the protest images suppressed in reports by the Financial Times. Another series, World Markets, is created from the stock market pages of newspapers, where human faces are printed as unfixed photocopies and then drawn over in charcoal so that the marks have become totally glued together, creating a stark contrast between profit-making and social suffering; the two themes merging together. 

Within Gallery 7, the deconstruction and reconstruction that interplays various materials and artistic mediums can be appreciated. By viewing all the selected pieces within Gallery 7, the viewer can in addition also experience the concept of photomontage. In all galleries, Kennard displays groups of work, rather than single pieces, mirroring Kennard’s passion for photomontage, with multiple elements coming together to communicate a cohesive message.

Final Thoughts on the Exhibition

Overall, the exhibition experience was truly enjoyable to flip through Kennard’s work based around posters, newspapers and books in Gallery 5 and learn more about his practice and thoughts. However, if given the chance, I would prefer to view the original photomontages first before spending considerable time exploring his books and their subsequent reactivations. As Gallery 5 serves as both an entrance and final exit, reading Kennard’s publications and taking home the giveaway newspapers before leaving the exhibition beautifully echoes the notion of art dissemination, however it would be better positioned at the end rather than the beginning of the exhibition. 

Similarly, I would suggest placing the introductory text near the entrance of Gallery 7 and viewing the original photomontages rather than reading the publications at the beginning. In addition to the panel locations, the lighting in Gallery 5 could be dimmer while brighter in Gallery 6, to facilitate the intended visitor experience. Also, the wall of Gallery 5 could be painted a darker colour to encourage visitors to first enter Gallery 6.

There are many ways to assemble and view a retrospective exhibition. Peter Kennard’s retrospective builds upon a linear approach by forming cohesive clusters, which echo Kennard’s artistic practice in photomontage, his holistic thinking and his passion for art dissemination. This speculative arrangement provides an additional entry point for connecting art with the public. Practicality sometimes limits us to deliver intended messages to the public. By considering the subtle elements within an exhibition setup, I believe the visitor experience will be better facilitated.

Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent

Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom

23 July 2024 - 19 January 2025