Biografia
Corina Kent è nata nell’Iowa, dopo il diploma nel 1936 all’età di 18 anni, Frances Elizabeth Kent entra nell’ordine delle Missionarie del Cuore di Maria con il nome di Suor Mary Corita. i Kent, da diversi anni vivevano a Los Angeles, erano una tipica famiglia cattolica.Continua i suoi studi artistici all’Otis College of Art and Design e al Chouinard Art Institute, e si laurea nel 1941 presso l’Immaculate Heart College. In seguito nel 1951 consegue la laurea magistrale in storia dell’arte all’University of Southern California.
Dal 1938 al 1968 è docente presso l’Immaculate Heart College e capo del dipartimento di studi artistici nel 1964.
I suoi corsi attirano artisti di grande successo, tra cui Alfred Hitchcock, John Cage, Saul Bass, Buckminster Fuller e Charles & Ray Eames. Lei dirà di aver sempre voluto essere una suora, credeva nel cambiamento ausoicato dal Concilio Vaticano ll, ma 32 anni dopo, delusa e a causa delle continue pressioni dell’arcidiocesi di Los Angeles nel 1968, Corita abbanda la vita monacale e si stabilìsce a Boston.
Corita vede alla Ferus Gallery di Los Angeles le Campbell’s Soup Cans di Andy Warhol. È la prima mostra della Pop Art sulla West Coast e racconta: «Tornando a casa vedevo tutto come Andy Warhol»,così organizza una sorta di Factory all’interno del convento e coinvolge i suoi studenti e le sue consorelle in una lotta contro le disuguaglianze sociali e le discriminazioni razziali, la fame nel mondo, la guerra in Vietnam, prende ispirazione citando Kierkegaard, Gertrude Stein, i Beatles e la Bibbia.
La sua arte mutuò in una forma di attivismo, questa artista aprì le porte alla pop art come strumento di messaggi (anche) di fede, il suo lavoro suscitava controversie, soprattutto dall’arcidiocesi di Los Angeles, che trovava la sua arte blasfema e le sue attività del college come troppo liberali e che ostacolò anche l’accoglienza della sua opera nei circuiti artistici. significativo è che dopo averla costretta a lasciare l’ordine una sua opera è stata inserita nel Padiglione Vaticano alla Biennale di Venezia 2024,l’unica artista non vivente scelta dai curatori.
Curriculum
1986
The Soviet- American Message Exchange, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts
Retrospective Art Exhibit, Reynolds Art Gallery at Westmont Art Center, Santa Barbara, California
1985
Corita Kent, Acevedo Gallery, University of San Diego, San Diego, California
Corita Kent,Kerrwood Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California
Corita,Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
Corita Kent, Valley Art Gallery, Portola Valley, California
Corita- Exhibit of Prints and Watercolors, The Eden Express, Hayward, California
Holiday Beginning, Saint Philip’s Pastoral Center, Pasadena, California
Holiday’s End, Foyer Gallery, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California
Corita: Recent Watercolors, Images Gallery, Toleda, Ohio
Corita Kent and Lyn Maddox, Valley Art Gallery, Portola Valley, California
Corita Kent, Gormley Gallery, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
1984
Very Mine is My Valentine. Corita – Her New Work, Valley Art Gallery, Portola Valley, California
Corita Kent, The Well Being, Scripps Memorial Hospital Foundation, La Jolla, California
1983
Corita Kent, University Art Center, Palo Alto, California
Corita Kent, Mason McDuffie Real Estate, El Cerrito, California
Celebrations, Simmons College Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
Corita Kent, University Art Center San Fransisco, San Francisco, California
1982
Corita Kent, Mayfair Art Gallery, New York, New York
Corita Kent, Danville Territory Gallery, Danville, California
Corita Kent, Sun Gallery, Hayward, California
1981
Corita Kent, Kauffman Galleries, Houston, Texas
New Serigraphs of Love,Valley Art Gallery, Portola Valley, California
Woman and Art: An Exibition of Twenty-Two Contemporary American Artist, Suzanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1980
A Retrospective Exhibition, Wm. Underwood Co.Gallery, Westwood, Massachusetts
Corita: A Retrospective, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusettes
1979
Artist of the Month Series, Mayer Gallery, Marylhurst, Oregon
1978
Art and the Alphabet, The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas
1977
Corita Exhibit, Talisman Prints, Laguna Beach, California
1976
Corita Serigraphs, North Street North Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes
1975
Corita: A Retrospective,Syntex Art Gallery, Stanford Industrial Park, Palo Alto, California
1974
Corita at the Bare Cove Gallery,The Bare Cove Gallery Hingham, Massachusettes
High Cards, Lois Burnett Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1973
Serigraph by Corita Kent and Linocuts by Walter Balas, Malone Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California
1972
Corita: A Retrospective Exhibit, Marjorie Kauffman Graphics, Houston, Texas
National Invitational Prints, Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, Anchorage, Alaska
1970
Corita Kent Serigraphs, Mayer Gallery, Marylhurst College, Marylhurst, Oregon
A Joyous Protest: the Art of Sister Mary Corita, Marxhausen Gallery of Art, Seward, Nebraska
1969
New Prints by Sister Mary Corita, IHM, Botolph Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes
Corita, Morris Gallery, New York, New York
1968
Exhibition, Georgetown Graphics Gallery, Washington, DC
Exhibition, Episcopalian Liturgical Conference, Statler Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, California
Exhibition, Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Uppsala, Sweden
Exhibition, Process ’67, Cleveland, Ohio
The Unfinished Red, White and Blue Revolution, Pavilion Building, Century City Shopping Center, Century City, California
1967
Sister Mary Corita, Serigraphs, Longwood College, Farmville, Virgina
Sister Mary Corita, The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut
Life- New Life, First Lutheran Church, East Orange, New Jersey
Sister Corita: The Human in Art, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota
Exhibition, Conference on Church and Society, Detroit, Michigan
Graphics, Bosshart Art Gallery, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey
Survival with Style, Conference on Art, Architecture and Religion, New York Hilton, New York
1966
Out Art from In Group, Palos Verdes, California
Exhibition, Mandorla Gallery,Atlanta, Georgia
Calendar of Art Exhibits, Longwood College, Farmville, Virginia
California Printmakers, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
Retrospective show of prints by Sister Mary Corita, Los Angles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall ParkLos Angeles, California
Fine Arts Festival, Palomar College Fine Arts Center, San Marcos, California
Tomato Allegory, Botolph Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes
Printmaking USA, Fine Arts Gallery, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
No Man is a Watermelon, Yale University,New Haven, Connecticut
Sister Mary Corita Serigraphs, Thorne Hall and Art Building, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California
Being Alive- New Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, Art Originals Gallery, New Canaan, Connecticut
The Fifteenth Christocentric Arts Festival, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, The Gallery of the Theatre Arts, Los Angeles, California
But Is It Art?, Greensburg Central Catholic High School, Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Western Books of 1966, Pasadena, California
1965
Peace on Earth, IBM Storefront, New York, New York
The Many Facets of Motherhood, Benedictine Monks of St. Andrew’s Priory, Valyermo, California
Potpourri of Good Design- Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, Old Tappan, New Jersey
Sister Mary Corita’s 1965 Prints, Showcase Cinema, Lawrence, Massachusettes
11th Annual Valyermo Fall Festival, The Free Library of Philadelphia, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Exhibition Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel & Student Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Exhibition, Crenshaw-Imperial Branch of Inglewood Public Library, Inglewood, California
Dialogue, Immaculate Heart College Library, Los Angeles, California
Sister Mary Corita, IHM, Serigraphs, The Liturgical and Sacred Art Institute, Wichita, Kansas
1964
Prints in the Nineteen Fifties in the Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia
Prints and Pictures Department, Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, California
Beautitudes Wall, Vatican Pavilion, New York’s World Fair, New York, New York
Sister Mary Corita, Jefferson Gallery, San Diego, California
Exhibition, Christina Association of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sister Mary Corita Serigraphs, Morris Gallery, New York, New York
Exhibit of Art: Sister Mary Corita, Botolph Group, Boston, Massachusettes
1963
Corita Kent Saginaw Museum of Art, Saginaw, Michigan
Graphics Arts- USA, Alma-Ata, Yereven, Armenia
Images of Women, Hopskins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Corita Kent, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Corita Kent, Carson Roberts, Inc., Los Angeles, California
Bird Image and Symbol, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California
Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, I.H.M., La Casita, Bullock’s Fashion Square, Sherman Oaks, California
Exhibition, Rossmore Center Show, Rossmoor, California
Exhibition, St. Benedicts College, Atchinson, Kansas
Exhibition, East Carolina College, East Carolina College, South Carolina
Exhibition, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, California
1962
American Printmakers 1962, Emily Lowe Art Center, Syracuse University, SYRACUSE,NEW YORK
1961
Exhibition, Comara Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1960
Recent Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, I.F.A. Galleries, Washington, DC, January 1, 1959
1959
Sister Mary Corita, Morris Gallery, New York, New York
Religious Subjects in Modern Graphic Arts, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New York
Annual International Exhibition, National Serigraph Society, New York, New York
1958
Annual International Exhibition, National Serigraph Society, New York, New York
One Hundred Years of Architecture (American Institute of Architects Centennial Year)
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California
Corita Kent, Print Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois
1957
Exhibition, Pennsylvania State University, Park, Pennsylvania
Exhibition, Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining, New York
Exhibition, The Louisiana Art Commission, Old State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
California Artists 1957, San Jose State College, San Jose, California
American Prints, International Bordighera Biennale, Bordighera, Italy
One Hundred Years of Architecture (American Institute of Architects Centennial Year), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Exhibition, Lamberts’, Dallas, Texas
1956
The Bay Printmakers’ Society Second National Exhibition and The Oakland Art Museum Sculpture Exhibition
Bay Printmakers Society, Oakland, California
Christ in Christmas, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
1955
Southern California Serigraphs, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California
16th Annual International Exhibition, National Serigraph Society, New York, New York
1954
Serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita, I.H.M., The Catholic Graphic Arts Guild at the Catholic Information Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Contemporaries Christmas Show, The Contemporaries Gallery, New York, New York
Young American Printmakers, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Third National Exhibition of Prints, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Contemporary American Print 1900-1953,Achenbach Foundation Graphic Arts, San Francisco, California
1953
Second National Print Exhibit,University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Quarter Century International Print Show of the Northwest Printmakers, Seattle, Washington
New Britain Print Shows, New Britain, Connecticut
International Graphic Arts Society (IGAS) Prints Exhibit, Heilborn Studio Gallery, Los Angeles, California
14th Annual Exhibition of the American Color Print Society, The Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
International Graphics Arts Society, New York City, New York
Corita Kent,Mason McDuffie Real Estate, El Cerrito, California
1952
Exhibition of Artist of Los Angeles and vicinity, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California
American Water Colors, Drawings, and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York
State Art Exhibit, Sacramento State Fair, Sacramento, California
National Serigraph Society, New York City, New York
king's dream
1969
The sea queen
1967
I am the sacred words of the art
1976 – shell wrting#3
Highly prized
1967
Begin it
1981 – text Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe