The Easel

20th October 2020

Corita Kent’s Politics of Printmaking

Becoming a nun didn’t deflect Kent from her interest in art. She was teaching printmaking when, in 1962, she saw a show of Warhol’s soup can images. It impacted her art which became a distinctive mix of text, colour and images, deployed to promote her political views. Being an activist ‘pop artist nun’ didn’t win many fans in her church but public acclaim was more emphatic and re-emerges sporadically, most recently in fashion.  A good backgrounder is here.

13th October 2020

Robert Kobayashi at Susan Inglett Gallery

Kobayashi was a charming figure in New York’s art world. After trying painting, he began using strips of tin and nails to make portraits, still lifes and sculptures. The results were somewhat akin to pointillist paintings. Kobayashi avoided gallery representation and attention from critics was therefore sporadic. He put his whimsical works in a shopfront of his studio building; the neighbours complained if new pieces were slow to appear.