科麗塔·肯特：修女波普藝術家

喬安娜·摩爾海德

She shook up the church and the art world with her expressive， exuberant and boisterous work.她的作品色彩絢麗，活力四射，極具表現(xiàn)力，在宗教界及藝術界都引起了轟動。

On a summers day in 1962 a nun in her mid-40s went to see Andy Warhols breakthrough exhibition of soup can paintings; later， she recalled that “coming home you saw everything like Andy Warhol”. It was a seminal moment in the transformation of Sister Corita Kent from a convent school teacher into the artist who became known as the Pop Art nun.

Among the many original， mould-breaking， stand-alone characters the art world has produced， Kent more than holds her own. A fully habited nun， complete with veil and wimple， her monochrome outfit was a stark contrast to the vibrancy of her colour-charged silkscreens. This year， 100 years on from her birth， that is being remembered with an exhibition of her work at Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft in Sussex.

According to Donna Steele， the exhibitions curator， Kents work is “as important as that of Warhol” to the Pop Art movement. Kent used advertising slogans and song lyrics， as well as biblical verses and quotes from literature， to create vibrant silkscreens with trenchant political messages about racism， poverty and injustice.

The Ditchling exhibition covers Kents output across two decades， 1952-72， probably her most important period in terms of her story as well as in her output. Born Frances Kent in November 1918， the fifth of six children， her strongly Catholic family moved from Iowa to Hollywood in 1923. At school there， her art work was praised for its originality; and at the age of 18 she entered the order of nuns whose school she had attended， the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There， in their convent in Los Angeles， her artistic talent was picked up by one of the senior nuns， Sister Magdalene Mary， who encouraged Kent to train as an art teacher. She went on to work in the orders college， a liberal arts institution well known for its avant-garde views， and became head of its art department in 1964.

Los Angeles in the 60s was an exciting place at a momentous time： Kents work brought contact with figures such as filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock， composer John Cage， architect Buckminster Fuller， and designers Charles and Ray Eames， who became her close friends and champions. Her work became more prominent， and in the winter of 1967 she was featured on the cover of Newsweek—‘The Nun： Going Modern， read the strapline. The nun was indeed going modern; and for a while， it seemed the institution she was part of， the Catholic Church， was going modern， too. In 1962—the same year Kent saw Warhols soup cans—Pope John XXIII was convening Vatican II， the great reforming council that many liberal Catholics， like Kent and her community， thought would bring the Latin-using， medieval-rooted church into the 20th century， making it relevant and liberal; Christian， as Kent would have seen it， for the 20th century.

It was against the backdrop of this great reforming movement taking place in Rome， alongside the seismic changes in popular culture of the secular 60s， that Kent embarked on her most exhilarating work. Tame Its Not （1966） quotes from Winnie the Pooh and Kierkegaard， as well as the ad slogan for a mens cologne， and includes an aeroplane which many see as a reference to a guardian angel; “Somebody up there likes us”， reads one of its hopeful messages. More political is Stop the Bombing （1967）， her protest against Vietnam， with blue text against an angry red background; more religious is Enriched Bread （1965）， which uses an everyday loaf （“Helps build strong bodies 12 ways”） to reference the Catholic Mass， and the importance of the Eucharist. Words sing out of Kents silkscreens， their simplicity often belying the complexity of their messages.

Its as a nun that Kent is at her most intriguing. Lenore Dowling， 86， was a nun of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order at the same time as Kent and worked with her at the college; though a generation apart， she says the two of them shared a similar background. “Like Corita， Id been at school at the convent， and I was influenced， and Corita quite probably was， too， by the fact that the nuns who taught us were so young， in their early 20s， and they were so enthusiastic; joining the order seemed a very attractive future.”

Like Kent， Dowling remembers the excitement around Vatican II， and the hopes for lasting， liberal changes in the Catholic Church. But the Archbishop of Los Angeles， Cardinal James McIntyre， was a diehard traditionalist who disapproved strongly of the views of the nuns of Kents order， and particularly of the art of Kent herself. He took particular offence to a piece called the juiciest tomato of all （1964） in which Kent likes the Virgin Mary to a luscious tomato. The following year， McIntyre wrote to the head of the order to complain that “The Christmas cards designed by your art department and the sisters are an affront to me and a scandal to the archdiocese.

Kent tried to brush off the criticism， but coming from such a prominent figure in the church made it hard. In the summer of 1968 she took a sabbatical， spending the summer in Cape Cod; at the end of that time， she decided it wasnt possible to go back to the convent. “It wasnt only because of the tension of the backlash from the church，” says Dowling. “Corita had also been getting very little time for her own creative work. I think it all added up， and she realised she needed more time to herself， rather than running a busy art department.” Many other nuns， women who like Kent （and Dowling） were liberal Christians， also left the order around the same period; they established a much broader， more inclusive kind of religious community and Kent remained close to the new group until the end of her life， eventually leaving her work and royalties to them.

But from the age of 50 she lived alone， for the first time in her life， moving into an apartment in Boston. From now on her work becomes quieter， includes nature-inspired watercolors， and reflects her search for meaning from other religious traditions as well as pieces that reflect her experience of cancer.

Steeles view is that Kent， who died in 1986， was able to pour all her emotion into her art because of the life choices she made. “As an artist she was all emotion， but because she chose to be a nun， to be a single woman， not to have children， she had no lovers or children to take up that part of her.” What， though， of her legacy？ “Some of the graphics were of their time： but the messages are still very relevant today，” says Steele. Kent knew the power of a few well-chosen words， and in the world of text-messaging and Twitter， a world she never knew， that has a particular resonance. Perhaps most significant of all， though， is her belief in activism. We live in a time when popular action seems complicated and confusing; and Kents simple， heartfelt message rings down the decades. Because for her， there is no doubt about it. Feelings， and owning feelings， really can change the world.

1962年的某個夏日，一位45歲左右的修女參觀了安迪·沃霍爾的湯罐畫展，整個展覽令人耳目一新。后來，她回憶道，“回家后看什么都像是安迪·沃霍爾的作品”。那是科麗塔·肯特修女從修女院教師跨界成為波普藝術家的重大時刻。

藝術界有許多追求原創(chuàng)、打破常規(guī)、獨樹一幟的藝術家，肯特身處其中，并不滿足于堅持自己的風格。她始終一身修女長袍，戴著面紗和頭巾——這身單調(diào)的修女服與她色彩斑斕、活力四射的絲網(wǎng)印作品形成了鮮明對比。2018年，在她誕辰100周年之際，英國蘇塞克斯的迪奇靈工藝美術博物館為其作品舉辦了一場紀念展。

該展覽的策展人唐娜·斯蒂爾表示，對波普藝術運動來說，肯特的作品“與沃霍爾的作品同樣重要”?？咸乩脧V告宣傳語和歌詞，以及圣經(jīng)經(jīng)文和文學名言，創(chuàng)作充滿活力的絲網(wǎng)印作品，針對種族歧視、貧困現(xiàn)象和社會不公提出犀利的政治訴求。

迪奇靈的展覽涵蓋了肯特1952年至1972年的作品，這20年可能是她生活和創(chuàng)作最重要的時期。1918年11月，肯特出生于一個虔誠的天主教家庭，原名弗朗西絲·肯特，在家中六個孩子里排行第五。全家于1923年從艾奧瓦州遷至好萊塢。在當?shù)貙W校，她的藝術作品因獨創(chuàng)性而廣受贊譽。18歲那年，她加入了圣母潔心會，此前她曾就讀該修女會的學校。在洛杉磯的修女院，資深修女瑪格達琳·瑪麗對其藝術才華非常賞識，鼓勵她參加藝術教師的培訓。該修會所辦的學校是一所以觀點前衛(wèi)著稱的文理學院，肯特畢業(yè)后繼續(xù)留校任教，1964年出任藝術系主任。

1960年代是個重要時期，那時的洛杉磯令人興奮：肯特的作品引起了一些人的注意，包括導演阿爾弗雷德·希區(qū)柯克、作曲家約翰·凱奇、建筑師巴克敏斯特·富勒，以及設計師查爾斯和雷·伊姆斯等，他們成為肯特親密的朋友和支持者。她的作品愈發(fā)引人矚目，1967年冬天，她甚至登上了《新聞周刊》的封面——封面文章標題是“修女：走向現(xiàn)代”。這位修女確實走向了現(xiàn)代;一時間，她所在的天主教會似乎也有此趨勢。1962年，就是肯特看到沃霍爾湯罐畫的那一年，教皇約翰二十三世召集了第二次梵蒂岡大公會議。那是一次重大的改革會議，許多自由派天主教徒（比如肯特及其教區(qū)的教眾）認為，此次會議可以將這個講拉丁語、起源于中世紀的教會帶入20世紀，讓教會更貼近時代，更自由開放;正如肯特后來所看到的，帶來一個屬于20世紀的基督教。

這場重要的改革運動在羅馬展開，同時1960年代世俗流行文化發(fā)生了巨變——正是在此背景下，肯特開始了她最激動人心的系列創(chuàng)作?！恫豢神Z服》（1966）引用了小熊維尼和基克格德，以及一款男士古龍香水的廣告語，還有一架被很多人當作守護天使的飛機;其中有條充滿希望的信息寫道“天堂有人喜歡我們”?！吨浦罐Z炸》（1967）更具政治意義，她以憤怒的紅底配以藍字抗議越南戰(zhàn)爭。《豐富的面包》（1965）更富宗教色彩，以普通面包（“強身健體十二法”）來強調(diào)天主教彌撒及圣餐的重要性。肯特的絲網(wǎng)印作品總會呈現(xiàn)文字，簡單的形式常常隱藏了復雜的內(nèi)涵。

肯特的修女身份是人們最感興趣的。86歲的莉諾·道林和肯特同為圣母潔心會的修女，她們還是學院的同事。道林說，盡管年齡相差一代，但她倆有相似的經(jīng)歷：“和科麗塔一樣，我也在修女院上過學，教我們的修女都很年輕，才20出頭，個個充滿熱情——這讓我深受觸動，科麗塔很可能也是如此。加入修會似乎前景非常誘人?！?/p>

和肯特一樣，道林還記得第二次梵蒂岡大公會議帶來的興奮，以及對天主教會持久自由改革的希冀。但是，洛杉磯的大主教、紅衣主教詹姆斯·麥金太爾是頑固的傳統(tǒng)派，他強烈反對肯特所在的修女會修女們的觀點，尤其反對肯特本人的藝術創(chuàng)作。肯特有一個作品名為《美味西紅柿》（1964），她在其中把圣母馬利亞比作美味的西紅柿，主教對該作品尤其不滿。次年，麥金太爾寫信給修女會會長表達反感：“在我看來，貴系及修女們設計的圣誕賀卡是一種冒犯，也是大主教區(qū)的恥辱?！?/p>

肯特試圖將這種批評置之腦后，但批評來自教會這樣一位大人物讓她很難做到不予理睬。1968年夏天，她放下教職休了個假，整個夏天都在科德角度過;假期結(jié)束時，她覺得自己不可能再回修女院了?！斑@不僅僅是因為教會強烈反對所帶來的壓力，”道林說，“科麗塔自己的創(chuàng)作時間也一直很少。我認為這兩種原因都有，而她意識到了自己需要更多的私人時間，而不是忙于管理藝術系。”就在同一時期，其他許多修女，即像肯特（和道林）一樣的自由派基督徒，也離開了修會;她們建立了一個更廣泛、更包容的宗教團體。肯特余生一直與這個新團體聯(lián)系密切，最終還把自己的作品及版稅都留給了她們。

但從50歲起，肯特就搬進了波士頓的一所公寓，開始了她人生第一次的獨居生活。自那時起，她的作品變得更加安靜，包括從大自然獲取靈感的水彩畫，反映出她在其他宗教傳統(tǒng)和有關自己患癌經(jīng)歷的作品中探尋意義。

肯特于1986年逝世。斯蒂爾認為，肯特之所以能將她全部的情感傾注到藝術中，是源于她所做出的人生選擇?！白鳛橐粋€藝術家，她情感豐富，但因為她選擇做修女，做一個單身女人，不要孩子，所以她沒有愛人或孩子來占據(jù)那一部分的情感?！蹦敲?，她為我們留下了什么呢？斯蒂爾表示：“有些圖案打上了時代烙印，但包含的信息在今天仍很重要?！笨咸厣钪恍┚x文字所具有的力量，在她永遠不會了解的這個短信和推特的世界，那力量也會引起特別的共鳴。不過，也許最重要的是她對行動主義的信奉。我們生活的這個時代，大眾行為看似復雜難懂;而肯特簡單真摯的信息流傳了數(shù)十年。因為對她來說，有一點是毋庸置疑的：情感，擁有情感，真的可以改變世界。

（譯者單位：對外經(jīng)濟貿(mào)易大學）