Kennard has a long history of creating memorable and visceral art as activism – from his 1980 montage of Constable’s the Hay Wain with added cruise missiles, to his 1983 riff on Thatcherism, Maggie Regina, which bemoaned Thatcher’s “Victorian values” by pasting her face on to the queen. Photo Op by Peter Kennard and Cat Phillips. “I do that a lot with montages,” Kennard explains, “remake them in terms of what’s happening in the world.” Of course there’s a critical edge.”Īfter the British government voted to bomb Syria in early December, Kennard and his collaborator, renowned graphic designer Neville Brody, vowed to revamp the image. “But that’s the point – so people question it. “Any subversion of a Christian image does get some people annoyed,” he says. But it was banned by its sponsor Orange, says Kennard, because they believed it would offend young children and grandmothers. It’s really important to put things out into the world that aren’t for commercial profit.”īased on a painting in the National Gallery, Peace on Earth was originally intended as a festive projection for a scheme called Brightening Up London. When a Van Gogh goes for a lot of money at auction, they all stand up and clap. “Art has got so fucked up by being totally ruled by money. “The art market has become really disgusting,” says Kennard. Setting himself against the financial excesses of the art world, Kennard made sure that Peace on Earth is a completely non-copyright, or creative commons, image.

Images of peace on earth