The image of John XXIII, in bright yellow, stands out against a black background. Between the head of the pope and his hand sketching a gesture of blessing, it is inscribed: « Let the sunshine in » (“Let the sun in”). Words taken from a song from the musical Hair, symbol of the hippie counterculture of the 1960s.
Under the Gothic vaults of the Collège des Bernardins in Paris, this work created in 1967 by Corita Kent catches the eye. It symbolizes the research of this American artist who wanted to be part of popular culture to share a message of faith, love and justice.
Corita Kent (1918-1986) will remain in the history of Art for an unparalleled journey. That of a Catholic nun in habit, creating an art which is linked without hesitation to pop art: the works of Sister Corita use the images, the colors, the lettering of the advertising communication of her time to put them at the service of her hope Christian.
« It was about meeting people where they are.explains Nellie Scott, director of the Corita Art Center. The language of consumerism was the one they could understand, so that’s the language she used. »
A taste of reconciliation
In 1936, Frances Elizabeth Kent entered the teaching congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles (California), becoming, in religion, Sister Maria Corita. Ten years later, she studied art and specialized in screen printing. She remained faithful to this printing technique throughout her life, making it possible to produce art accessible to as many people as possible.
In the early 1960s, Sister Corita became head of the art school at Immaculate Heart College, the university owned by her congregation. Much loved by her students, she invites great figures of design and graphics such as Charles and Ray Eames, Saul Bass and Paul Rand to her classes.
This time is one of great upheavals. In the Catholic Church with the Second Vatican Council, in American society with the protest led by youth, the fight for civil rights led by Martin Luther King and the mobilization against the Vietnam War. Sister Corita will experience all these events intensely in a spirit of “joyful revolution”, according to the title of the Bernardins exhibition.
Tensions would soon be high with the church hierarchy and, in 1968, Corita asked to be excused from her religious vows and continued her life as an artist in Boston, on the other side of the United States. The presence of works by Sister Corita this year in the Vatican pavilion at the Venice Biennale has a taste of reconciliation.
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