Last Thursday I went to London for the day and visited the imperial war museum to see the Peter Kennard exhibition. I am glad that I did as it is always worthwhile to see the original art works instead of reproductions as it’s one step closer to what the artist themselves imagined. I also took some photographs of the exhibition whilst I was there, which are in the gallery below.

By seeing so many of Kennards images in one place really helps to build up an understanding of his work. He has stayed true to the montage being used as the voice of protest. I am even beginning to think that this is a tradition within the art form because it seems to fit it so well, which is because of the inherent clashing energy in a montage. By taking two photographs, cutting one up and then making it part of another image does clash even if the two images compliment each other. It’s almost like the images are fighting each other for attention and there is always a tension because they are not part of the original image.

I also noticed that Kennard has kept his images very simple, sometimes only using two images or even three. He does not “overcook” the montage by making it too complicated and convoluted and he relies on simplicity because it makes the message the montage carries much more hard hitting.

One element that came through very load and clear is Kennard’s own vision and cutting wit. For instance, the montage of placing Margaret Thatcher’s face on a picture of Queen Victoria speaks volumes about Thatcher’s ambition and her use of power. Another good example is the fist crushing the missile, the raised fist high in the air has become a black power symbol and Kennard uses that sense of power against an image of a weapon of mass destruction. But one of his best is a grinning Tony Blair taking a “selfie” photograph with a massive explosion in the background.

Kennard is now beginning to prove to be a huge inspiration for my own work. I think the way forward is to keep the images I use to a minimum, only 2 or 3, as this helps to simplify the message. I also need a coherent theme running through the montage of the portfolio and that my original idea of showing how misguided trying to reach utopia is. This theme in itself doesn’t really fit in with the montage being about an artwork that is more comfortable with sharp and hard hitting protests. The theme needs to be more tangible, for instance, such as poverty or oppression or racism, and a theme that is part of a traditional protest movement.