Hoehn Family Galleries Hosts Iconic Pop Artist Exhibition
San Diego, Calif. (PRWEB) February 10, 2016 -- The Hoehn Family Galleries at the University of San Diego will host iconic Pop artist Sister Corita Kent’s print exhibition, love is here to stay (and that’s enough): The Prints of Sister Corita Kent, from February 18, 2016 through May 13, 2016. The University Galleries exhibition highlights work from all parts of Kent’s career, including many from USD’s own collection, and includes archival materials that have never been exhibited publicly before.
Love is here to stay (and that’s enough), an exhibition of nearly 70 vibrant serigraphs, is the result of a multi-year collaboration between the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture and University Galleries.
Sister Corita (b. Frances Elizabeth) Kent entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Order based in Hollywood in 1936, studied art and art history at USC, and was a renowned teacher at Immaculate Heart College. During her prolific career, Kent produced more than 700 prints, most often using text and bright colors to deliver messages that she intended to “oppose crass realism, crass materialism, with religious values or at least with real values.” Today, she is considered a highly influential, though often overlooked, American Pop artist. Her works are often compared to the silkscreen paintings of Andy Warhol. Both artists incorporate the brand identities of iconic commercial products, but Kent’s work is unique in the way she repurposed the language of popular culture to communicate messages promoting social justice, Civil Rights, and peace. She even created the popular “love” stamp for the U.S. Postal Service that sold over 700 million copies.
“This exhibition demonstrates the Galleries dedication to presenting diverse, engaging work from all time periods and all cultures,” said Derrick Cartwright, Director of University Galleries at the University of San Diego. “Kent’s works were central to West Coast Pop sensibilities and belong to a tradition of critical image making that extends to our present era in works by Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari and others.”
Events occurring throughout the exhibition include:
• Opening Celebration - Wednesday February 17, will feature a lecture by Richard Meyer: "Shopping with Sister Corita" from 5:15 - 6:30 p.m. in the French Parlor at Founders Hall. An Opening Reception will follow from 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the Hoehn Family Galleries, at Founders Hall. Meyer is Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor in Art History at Stanford University and has written and lectured widely on contemporary art.
• Dialogue - Thursday, March 10 from 5:15 – 6:30 p.m. is a conversation with Sister Corita Kent’s students Susie Reneau, John August Swanson and Sister Madaleva, with Ray Smith, Director of the Corita Art Center. Jeffrey Burns, Director of the Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture will moderate the dialogue taking place in the French Parlor at Founders Hall.
• Gallery Talks - Thursday, April 7 at 5 p.m. with Jeffrey Burns, Director of the Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture. And, Tuesday, May 3 with April Dammann, author of Corita Kent. Art and Soul. The Biography.
• Prints & Pinot – Thursday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m. Prints and Pinot is fine art and wine appreciation at its most fun. Delicious wine is paired with Hoehn Family Galleries impressive print collection for an evening of interactive art, opinionated gallery tours, and other forms of playful connoisseurship. Hosted by the Alumni Association in the Hoehn Family Galleries, at Founders Hall.
The exhibition and accompanying scholarly catalogue have been curated and written by Jeffrey Mark Burns and Erin Sullivan Maynes.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday noon to 5 p.m. and Thursdays noon to 6 p.m. All exhibitions and related programs are free. Parking at USD is also free, but you must receive a parking permit from the kiosk located at USD's two main entrances.
About the Hoehn Family Galleries
The Hoehn Family Galleries is located at Founders Hall 102 at University of San Diego, 5998 Alcaia Park, San Diego, Calif., 92110. For general information call 619-260-7516, or visit http://www.sandiego.edu/galleries/.
The fine art exhibition program at USD traces its origins back to the 1980s, when Professor Therese Truitt Whitcomb began organizing installations with the help of her students in a converted classroom space near the front entrance to Founders Hall. Over the course of the next 25 years, more than 100 exhibitions were mounted in Founders Gallery until it was expanded, professionalized and re-named the Hoehn Family Galleries in 2002, thanks to a generous gift from Robert and Karen Hoehn, long-time supporters of the Arts at USD. The Hoehn Family Galleries now function as a primary place for exhibiting fine art prints regularly during the academic year. Exhibitions held have included shows of loaned work from global institutions, as well as works from University Galleries' own impressive and extensive print collection.
Carrie Jones, MeadsDurket, +1 (619) 688-5237, [email protected]
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