someday is now
In the mid-1960s, Sister Mary Corita Kent created screenprints that melded references to consumer culture, religion, and social justice. An example is someday is now, in which the word "Safeway"—the name of a California-based supermarket chain—is split in two and cropped at the ends. Though the truncated and enlarged text verges on abstraction, it largely retains its legibility—a testament to the power of branding in the era of mass consumption. Kent infused the term "safe way" with new meaning by adding quotes related to the current civil rights movement to the colored bands at right. At top is a quote culled from the U.S. Pavilion of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and below it is an excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famed "I have a dream speech," itself a passage drawn from the Book of Isaiah.
Kent, the chair of the art department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, was best known for works that recode everyday commercial imagery to reflect the progressive form of Catholicism that she practiced, which was rooted in social justice. Working primarily in screenprint, she often drew on the technical and compositional strategies of Pop art.
Kent, the chair of the art department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, was best known for works that recode everyday commercial imagery to reflect the progressive form of Catholicism that she practiced, which was rooted in social justice. Working primarily in screenprint, she often drew on the technical and compositional strategies of Pop art.
Artwork Details
- Title: someday is now
- Artist: Corita Kent (American, Fort Dodge, Iowa 1919–1986 Boston, Massachusetts)
- Date: 1964
- Medium: Screenprint
- Dimensions: 24 × 36 in. (61 × 91.4 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: John B. Turner Fund, 2025
- Object Number: 2025.731
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Corita Kent (American, Fort Dodge, Iowa 1919–1986 Boston, Massachusetts)
ca. 1953
Corita Kent (American, Fort Dodge, Iowa 1919–1986 Boston, Massachusetts)
ca. 1950–56
Corita Kent (American, Fort Dodge, Iowa 1919–1986 Boston, Massachusetts)
1964
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