Sister Corita’s Summer of Love

Through colourful banners and posters Sister Corita Kent (1918-1986) spread messages of joy, faith, love, the power of God, and protested against the political crises of her day.
Corita was a Catholic nun, artist and teacher at the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles. Heading the art department there in the 1960s she harnessed the energy of her students to help her produce some of the most vibrant and inventive print work of the day, using silk screen technique.

Sister Corita’s Summer of Love is one of a growing number of exhibitions, internationally, that celebrate Corita Kent as an under-discovered heroine of the Pop art moment.
Curated by Simon Rees, nearly 100 screen-prints were shown in the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery exhibition from 18 December to 3 April.

A reconfigured exhibition including new and different support works, curated by Robert Leonard, was shown at City Gallery Wellington, from 23 July to 16 October 2016.
Empowered by the Second Vatican Council (1962), Sister Corita’s work borrowed magpie-like from signs and slogans, billboards, popular song lyrics, product packaging and magazine advertising. Many of her artworks are text-based, using pop culture as raw material and incorporating high-colour messages of peace, spirituality and her commitment to social justice.

This book was published by City Gallery Wellington with Govett-Brewster Art Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition Sister Corita's Summer of Love at City Gallery Wellington, curated by Simon Rees with Robert Leonard.

Designed by Spencer Levine, the book Sister Corita's Summer of Love includes full colour plates, a foreword by Simon Rees and essays by Aaron Rose and Robert Leonard. All Corita Kent images reproduced are courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles.

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