In the News
Apollo - November 2024
The Catholic nun with a penchant for protest
Kent had a voracious cultural appetite and was keenly aware of what her contemporaries were doing. She was friends with Ray and Charles Eames, John Cage, Alfred Hitchcock, and Saul Bass. It was after seeing Andy Warhols “Campbell’s Soup Cans” when they were shown for the first time in Los Angeles in 1962 that she created her series inspired by Wonder Bread, riffing off the cheerful primary palette of the American brand.
Graphéine - October 2024
Sister Corita Kent, the Pop Art Nun
She’s an atypical woman, surprisingly little known in France.
At at time when Pop Art was gaining worldwide recognition, the innovative work of certain women artists was often neglected, or even deliberately forgotten… For her part, Sister Corita Kent brought a parallel effervescence, taking a cheerful and colorful counterpoint to Pop Art.
CNN - April 2024
Pope makes landmark visit to Venice Biennale and proclaims that ‘the world needs artists’
His meeting with them also marked a rehabilitation for Corita Kent, known as the “pop art nun” whose works are included in the Holy See pavilion but who in the past faced resistance from a powerful cardinal. During his speech, the pope singled out Kent — along with Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois — as female artists whose works have “something important to teach us.”
The Art Newspaper - April 2024
Pope drops in on the Venice Biennale and visits the Vatican pavilion
During his speech at the pavilion, the pope singled out the late Catholic nun and activist Corita Kent — along with Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois — as female artists whose works have “something important to teach us,” reported CNN. Kent’s vivid graphic works, promoting tolerance and peace, are on show in the prison’s staff cafeteria.
The New York Times - April 2024
The Vatican Transforms a Prison Into a Gallery
Another nod to the institution’s convent past is the inclusion of silk-screened prints by Corita Kent, a longtime Catholic nun and progressive activist who died in 1986. In an email, Parisi said Kent’s work was included for its combination of “sacred texts, poetry, statements and Pop imagery, in works that challenge convention.”
National Catholic Reporter - April 2024
From blasphemous to blessed: Pope’s Venice visit will spotlight Corita Kent’s art
In the 1960s, the Catholic cardinal of Los Angeles labeled the art of Corita Kent as blasphemous. But on Sunday, April 28, it will be given the spotlight by Pope Francis in a Vatican-organized exhibition elevating work that chronicles those on the margins.
UC Santa Cruz – April 2024
“A Sign of Hope: The Art and Teaching of Corita Kent,” reintroduces an artist who challenged societal norms and championed hope and love. “A Sign of Hope” is the final installment in the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery’s three-part series honoring women artists and activists.
Frieze - August 3, 2021
Corita Kent's Spiritual Rupture Becomes Political Act
Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, presents the late artist’s 1960s screen-print series ‘heroes and sheroes’ which stands as a rebellion against the status quo and the Catholic Church
The New Yorker – August 2021
Once known as Sister Mary Corita, Kent left the religious order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1968—the prolific artist faced resistance to her radical views from the Catholic Church. The same year, she began a series of twenty-nine screen prints, titled “Heroes and Sheroes” (completed in 1969), now on view at the Kreps gallery.
The New York Times – July 16, 2021
Through Aug. 13. Andrew Kreps, 22 Cortlandt Alley, Manhattan; (212) 741-8849, andrewkreps.com.
Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, was pretty famous for a nun. She headlined a 1967 Newsweek article about the state of the American convent, and she worked on major commercial advertising campaigns to raise money for her order’s Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, where she taught art. (Kent left the order in 1968 at the age of 50 and died in 1986.)
Andrew Kreps Gallery - July 8 to August 13, 2021
Documentation of the ‘Corita Kent: heroes and sheroes’ exhibition at Andrew Kreps Gallery. This show represents the first time the series has been presented in its entirety in New York.
Artbound
Corita Kent: The Pop Art Nun
At a time when pop art was finding its footing and the nation was in a state of upheaval, Sister Corita helped make art more accessible to the public. This episode charts her art practice and her effect on generations after her. Using the classroom as a tool for a more approachable way to think about art, Sister Corita has inspired and motivated an entire new generation of graphic designers.
Smithsonian Magazine - June 3, 2021
During the 1960s, Catholic nun Corita Kent created silkscreen art rooted in the civil rights movement and other social justice struggles. Now, the city of Los Angeles has designated her one-time studio as a landmark.
Frieze - August 27, 2020
Corita Kent’s Politics of Printmaking
A retrospective at Taxispalais Kunsthalle, Innsbruck, shows that the artist was bold both in her combinations of typefaces and in her political statements
Hyperallergic – Feb. 4, 2020.
LOS ANGELES — Just a short drive from the madness of Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles — home to the infamous Walk of Fame and numerous Spiderman impersonators — sits the Immaculate Heart Community. Tracing its roots back to the 1840s, the space now also houses a singular space dedicated to one artist: Corita Kent.
Rebel Hearts Film
In 1960s Los Angeles a trailblazing group of nuns, The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bravely stood up to the patriarchy of the Catholic Church, fighting for equality, their livelihoods, and their own freedom against an all-powerful Cardinal who sought to keep them in their place. Their bold acts of faith, defiance and activism turned the Church upside down, helping to reshape our society in ways that continue to resonate today. From marching in Selma in 1965 to the Women’s March in 2018, they challenged the notion of what a nun and a woman were supposed to be.