rebel wisdom from Sister Corita Kent

alternate ways of seeing the world

I see things in terms of illumination. There’s a certain territory that’s been illuminated and a vast territory that’s in the dark. And looking at that edge is what I’m interested in.

— Corita Kent

For the past week I’ve immersed myself in the work of Corita Kent, a catholic nun and teacher, who became one of America’s most celebrated serigraph artists. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Corita taught art at the Immaculate Heart College in LA, where her ‘captivating images and provocative texts delivered messages of joy and hope to a troubled world.’

Former students describe her as a demanding teacher, who set very high standards for both herself and those she taught. Kent would often assign tasks which involved producing 100 sketches within twenty-four hours, which students would baulk at, but then duly turn up to class with. These assignments were intentionally focussed on making large quantities of work quickly, and designed to help her students closely observe and see the world around them.

To enable this Kent encouraged the use of looking cards, which were squares of paper or cardboard with a rectangle cut out their middle. The class would then go down to the carwash or grocery store and look through the card and see what came to their attention. This would often be just the first in series of processes that led to the creation of new work.

‘Sometimes you can take the whole of the world in and sometimes you need a small piece to take in.’

— Corita Kent

Corita once produced a set of ‘rules’ for her department, which were developed after she asked her classes what was important for them as students and what they hoped for in a good teacher. From their responses she produced ten ‘Rules’ which were pinned to the wall. The rules, which include ‘Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make’ (Rule 6) and ‘The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things’ (Rule 7), have since been adopted more broadly by artists, who often pick their ‘rule for the day’ to guide their practice. They embody both the playful and serious attitude that Kent brought to the classroom.

Although religious iconography featured heavily in her early pieces, by the 60s she focussed far more on typography and the way it was used within commercial spaces in LA. She would take messages from advertising campaigns and creatively rework them using silk-printing techniques, single-handedly revitalising serigraphy as an artform.

This silk-printing technique and the use of paper as her primary material was an intentional choice for Corita, who wanted to be able to respond to events unfolding in the world as quickly as possible, in a manner that was accessible to the public. She deliberately drew on the eye-catching colours and bold typography utilised by brands to appeal to the masses, hoping her work would do the same.

Enriched Bread (1965) Corita Kent

Her piece Enriched Bread (1965) took inspiration from the wrapper of Wonder Bread, a brand commonly available in supermarkets at the time. She took the marketing language of ‘enriched bread’ and then overlaid it with a quotation from the French philosopher and author Albert Camus:

Great ideas, it has been said, come into the world as gently as doves. Perhaps then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amid the uproar of empires and nations, a faint flutter of wings, the gentle stirring of life and hope. Some will say this hope lies in a nation; others in a man. I believe rather that it is awakened, received, nourished by millions of solitary individuals whose deeds and works everyday negate frontiers and the crudest implications of history. As a result, there shines forth fleetingly the ever threatened truth that each and every man, on the foundation of his own sufferings and joys, builds for all.

Enriched Bread was typical of her work and style during the 60s, and not intended to be an indictment of mass-market goods, but rather a joyful reflection of it. She saw holiness in the everyday things that made life possible for those around her. In this case, drawing links between the sacrament and an everyday, shop-bought loaf of bread which - ‘helps build strong bodies 12 ways’.

‘A work of art makes you alert to what you hadn’t noticed in the ordinary things, so that the distinction narrows between what is ordinary and what is extraordinary’. 

- Corita Kent

American sampler (1969)

Whilst her style is often associated with Andy Warhol and the pop-art movement, the content of her work tended to be far more political than her contemporaries. During the Vietnam War, Kent produced pieces which were highly critical of America’s campaign. This built upon previous works that explored the relationship between the civil rights movement and the gospel. After the murder of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968 she produced a piece called ‘The King is Dead. Love Your Brother.’

The increasing radicalism of Kent and her fellow IHM Sisters would see them shunned by the conservative catholic leadership during Vatican II. Around this time many Sisters, including Corita, sought dispensation from their vows and left the order. Following a sabbatical from teaching and touring, Kent moved to Massachusetts and died of ovarian cancer in 1986. She continued to make art until her death.

‘Look at this; and then look again, and see anew’, Corita would say to her students. This was not simply a request relating to the development of their art practice, but a spiritual instruction, to look afresh upon the things we think we are familiar with and witness the joy and love they contain.

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Recommendation Corner: Rebel Wisdom edition

1. WATCH: Corita Kent: The Pop Art Nun

   A fascinating primer on Corita’s life, which chronicles the impact her approach to art had upon both those she taught and wider society.

2. READ: The Story of Art Without Men, by Katy Hessel

   If you want to read about the lives of other overlooked female artists, then Hessel’s book is a great place to start.

3. READ: For All We Know and For All We Cannot Yet See: The role of the artist in Black cinema, life and Palestine by

   Maya Cade

   This piece has given me much food for thought this week - ‘As spectators and culture workers, our task is to render that invisibility into our own language to share with our communities and provide them with the tools to continuously share with others.’

Thank you for reading!