Power Up: Serigraphs by Corita Kent

March 3 – April 20, 2008

Corita Kent gained international fame for her vibrant text serigraphs during the 1960s and 1970s. These works exemplify the bold, flower-power aesthetics and social messages of the period and have new found relevance today. With Power Up, the Thacher Gallery presents a retrospective of works held by the Corita Art Center in the Immaculate Heart Community in Los Angeles.

A sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary until 1968, Kent’s art reflects her spirituality, her commitment to social justice, her hope for peace and her delight in "the world that takes place around all of us."

In Kent’s posters, pop art meets agitprop art through splashes of color, the use of familiar advertising logos, and thought-provoking texts that protest the Vietnam war, racism, and corporate greed. Even so, the serigraphs remain playful and bright. From her uses of the Wonder Bread packaging to her 1985 "Love Stamp" designed for the U.S. postal service, her work is so much a part of the era that it has a deeply familiar feeling to it.

This exhibition is made possible by the Corita Art Center in Los Angeles.

Opening Program

Tuesday, Mar. 6, 3-4 p.m.
Donohue Rare Book Room, Gleeson Library, 3rd Floor

USF Graphic Design faculty Stuart McKee and Amy Franceschini, Futurefarmers in conversation with Sasha Carrera, Education Coordinator at the Corita Art Center

A reception will follow in the gallery from 4-6 p.m.