Life is a Complicated Business 1967

Curator: Looking at Corita Kent's screenprint from 1967, “Life is a Complicated Business," I immediately think "joyful poster!"— despite the slightly sardonic title. What strikes you first? Editor: The materials, of course. That intense, almost industrial color palette screams mid-century process inks on something like newsprint or a similar, absorbent stock. This wasn't meant to be precious; it’s meant to be disseminated widely and cheaply. Curator: Right. It’s pure Pop Art, practically vibrating with color. There’s text nestled into those bold blue letters of “LIFE” – phrases that feel both profound and simple, like a recipe for navigating existence. “Fraught with mystery and some sunshine…” beautiful. Editor: Yes, and that combination, that weaving of the commercial aesthetic and these… aphorisms, if we can call them that, speaks directly to her deep involvement with social justice. She used accessible media to engage a wide audience. A bold aesthetic created for collective reflection. Curator: She believed in the power of accessible art, the idea that art could be a catalyst for change and awareness. It’s inherently optimistic. I mean, the bottom yellow portion reminds me of… sunshine, of course! It grounds the whole thing in… hope. Editor: Grounding is key, I think. The labor of producing something like this at scale is easy to overlook. And it's an active engagement with distribution systems that were very much changing, industrializing in that post-war period. Curator: And how do you reconcile that with her work within the church, her role as a nun? I always found it to be so intriguing. It's not what people expect! Editor: That friction is productive. Consider her situation, then consider what she created using screen printing technology, this reproducible art that wasn’t trying to be rarified, right? To me, the material and social dimensions create a narrative about access. Curator: I can’t help but feel this childlike optimism, though, even with that critical layer. It’s something so authentically *Corita*! Editor: Fair enough. She undeniably merged visual communication with profound, simple sentiments. To understand this, we’ve both looked through different lenses – one emphasizing materials, and one looking at pure sentiment – which I suspect gives us a complete impression of Corita’s work.