Corita Kent

A contemporary of Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha, Corita Kent (aka Sister Mary Corita) created eye-popping screenprints and drawings that combined corporate logos with excerpts from some of the artist’s favorite writers, creating an intersection between religious euphoria and advertising hyperbole.

Originally a sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles, Sister Mary Corita served as both an educator and an activist at the Immaculate Heart College, where she was head of the art department.

Over the years as her work gained international attention, her work engendered resistance from some in the church hierarchy. By 1967–68, the tensions had become so high between the Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters and the Archbishop of Los Angeles who saw the sisters’ actions, and especially those of Corita, as undermining the authority of the church. By the end of the 1960s, the majority of the sisters chose to dispense with their vows and establish the Immaculate Heart Community, an ecumenical group which allowed them to continue their progressive work.