Corita Art Center

New Rules Next Week: Corita Kent's Legacy Through the Eyes of Twenty Artists and Writers, edited and with an introduction by the Corita Art Center, is both a tribute to the memory of Kent as well as an inspiring work for anyone who thinks creatively (which includes everyone from artists to engineers).

If you grew up in the late 60s and early 70s as I did there is a very good chance you know of Corita Kent. You almost certainly know of her work. In the silk-screening unit of my 8th grade print class, the teacher taught not just the techniques but a little about the history and practitioners, and that was the first time I put her name with some of the images I was already familiar with.

This book offers an essay and a piece of artwork for each rule. The essays give the reader some perspective on what the rules mean, or could mean. Part of the entire purpose of the rules was flexibility, so to claim a definitive way to understand each seems to go against the intent. As long as the spirit of the rules are kept in mind, the rules offer ways to enhance and fulfill whatever roles you may have in your life. The artwork, for me, was more like taking a time trip, they mostly resembled things you would have seen during that time.

I recommend this for not just those who place creativity front and center in their work (artists, writers, etc) but also those who need to look at things from creative perspectives in order to solve problems (engineers, scientists, etc). Make them yours, adjust them to fit your situation, but keep the spirit of them alive in doing so.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (más)