Activist Art/Artivism 2025: London Eye for Tribute Magazine
April 2025: Photographer Jack Eames discusses various forms of activist art and artivism to look out for in 2025.
People have always used activist art as protest and to engage in political commentary. In 2025 we are seeing all forms of artivism, whether that is contemporary or discussions and celebrations of art from decades ago, and seems to be a consistent theme in some of the spaces I’ve been visiting this year. The below was originally published in Tribute Magazine in April 2025.
1/ Film: The Brutalist
If you haven’t had a chance yet to see this recent Oscar winner, then I would highly recommend it. The Brutalist only came out in UK cinemas at the start of this year, but managed to squeeze it’s way into the recent Oscar nominations, securing Adrien Brody with a very well deserved Best Actor Award. His performance as Lászlo Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust Survivor and architect, is brilliant and moving, and pairs wonderfully with Lol Crawley’s Oscar winning cinematography. While not strictly an example of activism in art, the story is deeply political on many levels.
2/ Exhibition: Linder: Danger Came Smiling at the Southbank Centre
The Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre is a brilliant space for art, and I was so excited when a retrospective of Linder’s work was announced. A British collage artist known for her radical feminist photomontage and creative activism, Linder’s work is bold, graphic and rebellious. Danger Came Smiling is a celebration of so many aspects of her career, from her collage art to the LP artwork of her post-punk band Ludus. The exhibition is on until 5 May 2025 – do not miss it!
3/ Music: Ichiko Aoba, Luminescent Creatures
Japanese folk singer and songwriter Ichiko Aoba’s latest album Luminescent Creatures is nothing short of exquisite and enchanting. The music is delicate and emotive, taking the listener on a beautiful journey from start to finish. I love having it playing while I’m working on edits in the studio – the experimental compositions really spur creativity!
4/ Place: Bradford, 2025 UK City of Culture
Bradford is the UK City of Culture for 2025, and is home to playwright Andrea Dunbar - she wrote the classic: ‘Rita, Sue and Bob too’ - a hilarious yet bleak film showing a life of fleeting pleasure and diminished expectations. Artist David Hockney was also born in Bradford, and there is an exhibition of his photography on now, too. But get in quick as this one ends 18th of May, although there are other pieces of David’s work being shown in the city. All worth viewing.
5/ Exhibition: Resistance, Turner Gallery, Margate
‘How protest shaped Britain and photography shaped protest’ is the tag line for this brilliant show conceived by acclaimed director Steve McQueen, which explores 100 years of protest in photographs. The exhibition, on until 1st June at my favourite local gallery, is a poignant collection of black and white images spanning a century of defiance and activism. Expect a visit to the gallery to be stirring and emotive.
6/ Book: Guy Bourdin for Charles Jourdan
I love the work of Guy Bourdin. His surrealist take on fashion photography is iconic, and hugely influential to so many photographers and creatives. This latest book is an assembly of advertising images shot for French designer Charles Jourdan. The creative dialogue between photographer and designer culminates in a beautiful collection of intensely saturated colours and provocative subject matters and makes for a very inspiring read!
7/ Exhibition: 1965, Malcolm in Winter, A Translation Exercise, White Cube Gallery
During a visit to Bermondsey recently I popped into White Cube on a whim and stumbled upon this excellent exhibition centred around the life of Malcolm X. The space hosts artist & curator Theaster Gates’ solo exhibition displaying an archive of Japanese representations of Malcolm X; a combination of art and political discourse through a lens of care and preservation prevalent in Japanese culture.
The political sphere is ever-changing, and I think the contributions that photography and moving image make to documenting historical and contemporary issues, as both photojournalism and protest art, is so important. Seeing what this brings to art is a huge love of mine.
8/ Music: Max Pope, Praise Animal
Recently I’ve been working with fantastic London based singer-songwriter Max Pope to creative some exciting artwork for his upcoming album Praise Animal. We’ve been cooking up some beautiful imagery together to complement his smooth tunes which I can’t wait to share – for now here’s a taster from one of the press shots we made together. Check him out on Spotify!
