Description: Damn Everything but the Circus Original lithograph by Sister Corita Kent Circa 197010 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches Bold colors and innovative text over imagery made her the Andy Warhol of the West Coast. A fascinating piece of history, Sister Corita was producing groundbreaking art during the tumult of the 1960s, and is now regarded as a major artist that was fiercely independent and hugely influential. In 1970, Corita published her iconic Damn Everything but the Circus series, also known as the “Circus Alphabet” series. These lithographs are NOT numbered or signed. (I have seen larger signed pieces, silk screen/serigraphs from this series) These lithographs were printed in 1970, and were only available in a limited edition portfolio. They were not availably separately, and are quite scarce in condition. Corita Kent worked at the intersection of several powerful and at times contradictory cultural, political, and religious influences. Corita Kent, inspired by the works of Andy Warhol, began using popular culture as raw material for her work in 1962. Her screen prints often incorporated the archetypical product of brands of American consumerism alongside spiritual texts. Her design process involved appropriating an original advertising graphic to suit her idea; for example, she would tear, rip, or crumble the image, then re-photograph it. She often used grocery store signage, texts from scripture, newspaper clippings, song lyrics, and writings from literary greats as the textual focal point of her work. E.E. Cummings was one of her earliest and strongest influences. She quotes him in her work separately more than a dozen times and was inspired by a line from one of his lectures to create an entire series of alphabet prints.By creating juxtaposition between formally acknowledged or respected "art" and the art Corita saw in her everyday world – at the supermarket, on a walk, in the classroom – she lovingly elevated the banal to the holy. Corita's earliest work was mostly iconographic, drawing inspiration and material from the Bible and other religious sources. Her style is heavily text-based, scripture passages or positive quotes often encompassing entire compositions with bold and highly saturated typefaces. Despite the often surreal or disorienting compositions of her works, her pieces are "always about something." By the 1960s, her work started becoming increasingly political. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Kent produced her oeuvre during her time at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles in response to the Catholic reform in the 1960s by the Vatican Council II as well as several political and social issues happening at the time. Her work itself aided in the Vatican II movement, a movement to modernize and make relevant the Catholic Church. Kent’s use of English church texts in her work, for example, made an impact on the Vatican II’s efforts to normalize conducting Mass in English. Because of her strongly political art, she and others left their order to create the Immaculate Heart Community in 1970 to avoid problems with their archdiocese. CONDITION: This lithograph is in VERY FINE condition. Uncirculated. Minor bend/crimp upper or lower left corner on all of the prints, from original portfolio packaging from 1970! SHIPPING: USPS. WE COMBINE SHIPPING!PACKING: Packing is done by collectors for collectors.ABOUT US: We are lifelong collectors who are just now selling off a collection of movie memorabilia that was started long before there was an ebay...
Price: 24.99 USD
Location: Santa Monica, California
End Time: 2025-01-12T19:05:12.000Z
Shipping Cost: 12.99 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Type: Print
Year of Production: 1970
