Corita Kent
Artworks
me must be turned upside down to become we, 1972, serigraph. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center.
Transcribed Text:
It's a two-way street
You took more than you gave.
I gave more than I took and that also is woe and vanity.
—D. H. Lawrence
Audio description
the eye in the sun, 1972, serigraph. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center.
Transcribed Text:
Something unbearable makes it possible to break thru a ceiling.
—S. Weil
the eye is the sun in the mouth - to see is to grasp
Audio description
seed persons, 1972, serigraph. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center.
Transcribed Text:
The sufferings of the world seemed to me without remedy, except by what we could give individually... The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.
—Anais Nin
Communities, nations, peoples, the human race itself, are all made up of individuals, and any satisfactory solution of local or world problems, must involve a prior solution of individual problems, at least in a few “seed” persons.
—Esther Harding
Audio description
within us, 1972, serigraph. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center.
Transcribed Text:
We carry within us the wonders we seek without us
—Sir Thomas Browne
Audio description
About the Artist
Corita Kent (1918–1986) was an artist, educator, and social justice advocate. At age 18 she entered the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary, eventually heading up the art department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles.
Her work evolved from figurative and religious to incorporating advertising slogans, popular song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the 1960s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and injustice. In 1968 she left the order and moved to Boston. Her work became more sparse and introspective, influenced by a new environment, a secular life, and her battles with cancer.
At the time of her death, she had created almost 800 serigraph editions, thousands of watercolors, and innumerable public and private commissions. The selected works are 50 years old but speak to a timeless connection between art and healing.
The Corita Art Center in Los Angeles has the largest collection of Kent’s works and related materials. Her work is held by numerous public and private collections around the world.