Richard Saltoun Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Peter Kennard
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, October 12, 2024


Richard Saltoun Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Peter Kennard
Installation view.



LONDON.- Since the late 1960s, Peter Kennard (b. 1949, UK) has been equipping his audiences with a deeper understanding of the violence, inequalities and injustices in our society, while actively protesting against them. Kennard’s subjects have ranged from The Vietnam War, apartheid, the nuclear arms race, and ecological crisis – to name but a few of the campaigns to which he is committed. His preoccupation with the deceptions and cruelties of wealthy industrialised nations stems from his frustration with their domestic and foreign policies, which have real consequences for our daily lives.

The solo exhibition ‘The Concept of History’ links Kennard’s work to the political thinking of Hannah Arendt through their shared belief that history is a construct managed and controlled by those in power. In chapter two of Between Past and Future, Arendt asserts that “[History] became a manmade process.” It is a crucial line in which Arendt reminds us of the biases implicit in the writing of history, while indicating that historical accounts can be challenged and, when necessary, adjusted. In his work, Kennard combines found images to figure the making of history as shadowy and violent.

This exhibition brings together for the first time one of the largest selections of Kennard’s little known, little seen STOP paintings. Made between 1968¬–1976, these monochromatic paintings were made using a now obsolete photomechanical process called “true-to-scale printing” that fixed an image directly to the surface of a prepared canvas. These remarkable works precede his celebrated 1980 photomontages such as Haywain with Cruise Missiles and Protest and Survive and are the nascent works in an artistic language that has sustained for over fifty years. Created with a keen eye for the power of juxtaposition, they combine different photographic fragments from the breaking news and top stories of the day that together present the harsh realities of a dangerously unstable society.

Accompanying these seminal works are several Pallet sculptures that use a photo-transfer technique to imbue their substrate with ghostly traces of faces and hands. The Pallet sculptures are part of an ongoing series produced by the artist since 1987 that use discarded wooden pallets – low-cost, commonly used tools for bulk shipping – which are frequently recycled by the homeless on the streets of London as makeshift beds. Despite their subject-matter, these sculptures avoid any sentimentality and instead draw our attention to the daily struggles of the disenfranchised, as well as demonstrating contempt for the inequitable system that has failed them.

The third series of works in the show (Untitled) 2020, all made last year, consist of hands drawn on stock prices. The hand as a representation of power has long been used by Kennard, for instance in the 1981 photomontage Crushed Missile showing a clenched fist snapping a warhead in half, which went on to become the image for anti-nuclear campaigns around the world. Since the mid-1990s, however, the artist has inverted his use of the hand as a symbol of solidarity and support to a monstrous image of a clawing hand rigid in a state of entrapment. We see hands ripping up The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in frustration that the rights and freedoms of all human beings are not upheld; or tearing at stock market data in exasperation with their results. ‘The Concept of History’ will present works from (Untitled) 2020 for the first time. Made using charcoal, toner, oil, acrylic and graphite on paper, these new works offer a more ambiguous treatment of the hand overlaying a variety of poses onto the financial pages of a newspaper that evoke a virtual study on just how abstract trading systems such as the stock exchange can tangibly impact the body.

Peter Kennard says of Arendt: “Hannah Arendt, in her own words, aimed at ‘thinking without a banister.’ In ‘The Concept of History,’ she wrote that ‘It is beyond doubt that the self-created risks mankind faces today have never been faced before.’ Her words resonate now, sixty years later, as we face climate catastrophe, increasingly deadly weaponry, racism, totalitarianism, Coronavirus, obscene wealth and poverty. She talked of ‘active citizenship’, confronting the world as it is. Making work about the here and now, banister gone, the stairs underneath are rotting, but Arendt’s writing teaches us this is where we’ve got to step.”

‘The Concept of History’ takes its title from the second chapter of Arendt’s 1968 book Between Past and Future. It is the second in a 12-month program dedicated to the writings of the German-born, American political philosopher Hannah Arendt.

Brazilian sound artist and music producer Laima Leyton also responds to each chapter in Arendt's publication through a new series of sound pieces commissioned by the gallery, collectively titled Infinite past, infinite future and NOW. Her second work Amnesia inspired by Arendt’s essay ‘The Concept of History’ is available to view under ‘Saltoun Online’ on the gallery's website. The online exhibition also presents her first sound piece in the series Lack of created to accompany ‘Tradition and the Modern Age.’










Today's News

March 13, 2021

The secret stunt doubles of the art world

Garrett Bradley reminds us that Black joy always existed

David Zwirner opens an exhibition of works by William Eggleston and John McCracken

Exhibition at TAI Modern pairs works of Japanese bamboo art with flowers

British PM rules out return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece

The First 5000 Days, sold for $69,346,250 to Metakovan, founder of Metapurse

First NFT work registered to the Vastari exhibition platform

The Rubin Museum of Art opens 'Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment'

Joy and anger in balance: The art of Lorraine O'Grady

Simon Bisley's original Lobo No. 1 cover heads to auction for the first time

Time stands still at historic Cairo watch shop

Holt/Smithson Foundation announces representation of Nancy Holt by Sprüth Magers

A rift over art and activism ripples through the performance world

New exhibition, Making Space, opens at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Targeted in protests, Chile removes general's statue

Museum of Russian Icons reopens with "Painted Poetry: Alexander Gassel"

Lyndon B. Johnson signed official printing of a landmark Civil Rights bill sold for more than $85,000

Book owned by Ada Lovelace is for sale, in honor of Women's History Month

Vast 'Indian Land' sign draws visitors to Desert X art festival

Richard Saltoun Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Peter Kennard

James Cohan opens an exhibition of new works by Michelle Grabner

The captivating delight of birds is explored in new exhibition

Rare early Charlie Chaplin poster from 1913 to be offered at auction

London Art Week announces an impressive line-up of insightful and lively talks

What is Lintel? Types and Benefits of Lintel in Construction

How Artists Can Attract Audiences to Their New Music on Spotify

Meet the Artist-Photographer Who Brings Vivid Narratives into Existence

Incredible Facts About Instant Loans Finding the Best Instant Loans




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful