Images of 1960s stars, from Muhammad Ali to Yoko Ono, are on display in an exhibition of the work of photographer Graham Keen from that decade. “1966 and All That” runs through October 22 at Lucy Bell Fine Art in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings.The exhibition, which is subtitled “Swinging London: Pop and Protest,” looks at this fascinating but tumultuous time in history through some of its biggest names, as seen through Keen's lens. He started his career taking pictures of pop TV shows such as “Top of the Pops,” before moving onto commissions from legendary radical publications. As a result, he has photographed everything from Marc Bolan to the British Black Power movement, as well as figures who straddled both pop and protest — like Joan Baez and Donovan supporting a CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) march — and also legendary groups such as The Rolling Stones and The Who.Alongside these anti-war performers is a major set of work featuring another of their tribe. Yoko Ono's first London show in 1966, at which she would meet her future husband John Lennon, was photographed by Keen. These images act as a record of some of Ono's first views with pieces that would become her most famous, including “Ceiling Painting,” 1966, comprising a stepladder with a magnifying glass underneath the word “YES” written in tiny letters on the ceiling.The Graham Keen exhibition runs alongside the V&A’s upcoming exhibition on Pop and protest in the late sixties, titled “Records and Rebels 1966-1970.” This exhibition will offer an intimate take on the same theme through the eyes of a single photographer who always seemed to be exactly where the action was in “swingin’” London.“Graham Keen: 1966 and All That” runs through October 22 at Lucy Bell Fine Art.
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