Indepth Arts News:
"We Can Create Life Without War: A Retrospective Exhibit of the Works of Corita Kent"
2008-04-12 until 2008-05-10
Breslin Fine Arts, Inc.
East Greenwich, RI,
USA United States of America
Breslin Fine Art Gallery announces “We Can Create Life Without War,” an exhibition of artwork created by Corita Kent (1918 – 1986), who became one of America’s most popular graphic artists in the 1960s and ‘70s. Exhibition dates are April 12 through May 10; the exhibit is presented in collaboration with Inspired Images, a non-profit foundation created to share Corita’s vision with new generations. Corita Kent’s career as a printmaker began in the 1950s while she was a teaching nun in Los Angeles. Her work was “pop” in style, and espoused universal themes of love, hope, and peace. In the early ‘60s, Corita’s work took on a more decidedly more political tenor, reflecting her interest in and support for humanist causes including civil rights, feminism, and anti-war activism. Partly because of her increasing work load as her art soared in popularity and demand (as a nun she was allowed little time to devote to her art), partly because of intense pressure from and the wrath of conservative church leaders, Corita left her order in 1968 and moved to Boston to concentrate on her art.
The work is deceptively simple: bright swatches of color interspersed with text. But the verbal play, visual puns and imaginative use of calligraphy and block letters, sometimes in the form of popular slogans, bits of poetry, word or sentence fragments, show a high, yet subtle, level of sophistication.
The exhibit will feature 40+ original prints and paintings from the collection of Rev. Bill Comeau, founder of Inspired Images, who collaborated with Corita Kent in the late ’60s. The two remained friends until Corita’s death in 1986. Personal correspondence and memorabilia collected by Rev. Comeau will give a rare glimpse of the artist’s life as well as her work. Rev. Comeau will be at the opening reception and will present a gallery talk later in the exhibit.
A selection of original prints, posters, and giclee reproductions will be available for purchase at the gallery. Portions of the proceeds will benefit the Inspired Images and Corita Foundations.
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