Thursday, 20 September, 2018

6.30 – 8.30pm, Four Corners Gallery

Collaged pictures or political weapons?

Acclaimed artists Peter Kennard and Loraine Leeson will be joining us in the gallery along with writer David Evans to discuss all things photomontage. We will be exploring the history, techniques and effects of photomontage, from darkroom collages to digital manipulation.

A fantastic event for anybody interested in the art of protest, radical culture or community activism. 

Peter Kennard has been a photomontage artist since the 1960s. Seeking to reflect his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement, he turned from painting to photomontage to better address his political views. He is best known for the images he created for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the 1970s–80s including a détournement of John Constable's ‘Hay Wain’ called ‘Haywain with Cruise Missiles’, first published in Camerawork Issue 19. Kennard has work in the public collections of several major museums and The Arts Council of England. He is also a Senior Research Reader in Photography, Art and the Public Domain at the Royal College of Art.  

Loraine Leeson has worked with communities through visual arts for over thirty years. She is particularly known for her work in support of the campaigning communities of London’s Docklands in the 1980’s, and her later use of digital media and the Internet to explore collective creativity. Her 1970s photomontage work in support of East London health campaigns was exhibited at the ICA last year. Loraine is the director of arts charity cSPACE at the University of East London and also runs courses in Art and Social Practice at Middlesex University. Recent publications include Art: Process: Change: inside a socially situated practice (2017)

David Evans is a writer, curator and critic. He worked with Jo Spence and Terry Dennett on Photography / Politics (1979). His publications include Photomontage: a political weapon (1987) with Sylvia Gohl,  John Heartfield: AIZ / VI 1930-38 (1992), Appropriation (2009) and Critical Dictionary (2011). He is currently working on a new book called Uncreative Camera: an introduction to image appropriation.

Places are free but booking is essential. Register here.