my country

Radical American artist, educator and once-devout Catholic nun, Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, incorporated a wide range of references into her work; spanning biblical allusions, literary conceits, song lyrics and pop culture imagery. The resulting colourfully vibrant and, often, provocative serigraphs has entranced audiences for over six decades.

In 1968 Kent completed the remarkable Signal Code Alphabet, a series encompassing a total of 26 kaleidoscopic serigraphs integrating scripture, typography, image, icons and the maritime flags of the International Code of Signals.

Later that year she also produced circus alphabet, a further 26 equally stunning serigraphs based on the ordinary alphabet. The letter E was illustrated by the serigraph e eye love (1968) where Kent boldly placed a bright green upper-case E on top of an eye. True to form she also added a literary reference which reads as follows: ‘should like to be able to love my country and still love justice’. The quote in question, which in its entirety states: ‘And I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice. I don’t want any greatness for it, particularly a greatness born of blood and falsehood. I want to keep it alive by keeping justice alive’, comes from the 1960 collection of essays Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (French: Lettres à un ami allemand, ‘Letters to a German Friend’) by Albert Camus (1913 - 1960, French author, dramatist, philosopher and political activist; recipient of the 1957 Nobel Price in Literature).

Camus, famous for celebrated works like The Stranger (French: L’Étranger) from 1942 and The Plague (French: La Peste) from 1947, was born in French Algeria. His 1960 essays also generally involve conflicts near the Mediterranean, with an emphasis on his home country Algeria, and on the Algerian War of Independence in particular. He also criticizes capital punishment (‘Reflections on the Guillotine’) and totalitarianism in particular.

Camus, furthermore, proclaims the call to justice and the struggle for freedom also declaimed in the Old Testament, particularly the minor prophets. But he does so in a modern context, where God is silent and man is the master of his own destiny. Although he sees no messianic age, he proclaims the hope that by continuous effort, evil can be diminished and freedom and justice may become more prevalent. In light of the above, it is thus natural to draw parallels between Camus’ essays and Kent’s artistic message as expressed in her images.

Also included in Camus book from 1960 (in the essay ‘The Artist and His Time’) is the address Camus gave in December 1957 at the University of Uppsala, Sweden entitled ‘Create Dangerously’. The speech is reminiscent of Leo Tolstoy’s (1828 – 1910, Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time) essay, ‘What is Art?’ (originally published in English in 1898), in that Camus speaks of the social context of art, concluding that ‘the only justification [for the artist] ... is to speak up for those ... who cannot do so.’ Again: ideas that are extremely close to Kent’s own social pathos and artistic ideals.

my country (1981), in the collections of Firestorm Foundation, belongs to Kent’s late work. Following a sabbatical in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1968, Kent decided to leave the Order of the Immaculate Heart and move to Boston in 1970. Living and working on the east coast until her death in 1986, Kent completed some large scale works, including the design for the Boston Gas Company’s gas tank in 1971. One of the largest copyrighted art objects in the world, Kent intended her Rainbow Tank, as it is more commonly referred to, to be a large scale expression of peace at the height of the Vietnam War.

At the end of her career, Kent not only worked on large public commissions but also created intimate, individual prints. Drawing from the beauty of the New England landscape, Kent made serene abstract compositions that express messages of hope and empowerment. In one of these late works, my country, she once again saw fit to remind the audience of Camus famous quote: ‘And I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice. I don’t want any greatness for it, particularly a greatness born of blood and falsehood. I want to keep it alive by keeping justice alive.’

Miscellaneous

Transcribed text:

I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice

Camus

Copyright Firestorm Foundation