Works by Pop Artist, Teacher and Nun, Sister Mary Corita, at Zach Feuer Gallery

Written by Alexandra Carrera Sunday, 30 January 2011 22:12

NEW YORK, NY.- Zach Feuer Gallery presents an exhibition of work by the Pop artist, teacher and nun, Sister Mary Corita (1918-1986). Drawn to the power of the word, Sister Corita incorporated fragments of text, slogans and signs taken from billboards, street signs, advertising jingles, pop songs, poems, newspapers and magazines into her work. She sampled quotes by Martin Luther King Jr., Rainer Maria Rilke, Phillip Roth and the Psalms. Sister Corita also appropriated images from magazine and newspaper covers of the Viet Cong, the Pope and the Berrigan Brothers burning draft cards as well as the Wonder Bread logo. On view through 5 December, 2009.

Corita's innovative use of loaded text, used alone or combined with images, created powerful graphics. She cropped, skewed, and collaged phrases from disparate sources to enhance the power of the quote and to create unique revolutionary, spiritual and social statements. Sister Corita was not only an activist and Pop artist but also a teacher.

At the Immaculate Heart College where Corita taught art, her classrooms were known for their dynamic interdisciplinary environments, in which films were screened, pop music played and large-scale collaborative projects were conceived and executed. She created happenings such as the reinvigorated annual Mary's Day parade and invited her peers, including Buckminster Fuller, Ben Shann and Charles Eames, to lecture.

Born 1918, in Fort Dodge, Iowa; Frances Kent moved to Vancouver in 1920 and Los Angeles in 1922. Entering the Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1936 as Sister Mary Corita, she attended Immaculate Heart College, and received her Masters Degree in Art History from the University of Southern California in 1951. Sister Corita taught art and was Chair at Immaculate Heart College until 1968.

She left the Order in 1968 and moved to Boston to practice as a designer and artist. A lifelong social activist, Mary Kent developed a loyal following of luminaries such as, Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, Ben Shahn, and Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Buckminster Fuller described his visit to her classes as “among the most fundamentally inspiring experiences of my life.” On Sept. 18, 1986 Corita finally lost her battle with cancer and died in her own home. Visit The Corita Art Center online.

In 1969, Sister Corita left the Immaculate Heart Community and moved to Boston where she continued to make serigraphs and watercolors as well as undertook several important corporate and public commissions.

This exhibition will feature Sister Corita's serigraphs from the early 1950's until her death in 1986 and will include memorabilia, such as the books with which she collaborated with Daniel Berrigan and films by Baylis Glascock documenting Corita's happenings and teaching.

On November 7 at 3 PM, the gallery will host a talk given by Alexandra Carrera, Director of the Corita Art Center, on the work of Sister Corita. Visit : http://www.zachfeuer.com/

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