enriched bread

Artist Corita Kent (American, 1918 - 1986)

Date1965

MediumScreenprint

DimensionsImage: 27 x 29 1/4 in. (68.6 x 74.3 cm) Sheet: 29 1/2 x 35 in. (74.9 x 88.9 cm)

CultureAmerican

Object numberPC2020.08.01

ClassificationsPrint Collection

DescriptionThree-color screenprint using graphic branding of Wonder Bread packaging. The Wonder Bread logo is stacked on top of three horizontal bands of color: blue, red, and yellow. The blue band includes handwritten text by Albert Camus, the red band includes text from Wonder Bread packaging: "helps build strong bodies 12 ways / STANDARD LARGE LOAF / no preservatives added."
Interpretations Mary’s Day and the Market Basket Corita began directing the Immaculate Heart College’s celebration of Mary’s Day in 1964, transforming the event into a joyous pageant and a platform for her and her students to take their experiments with colors, typography, and signage to the streets. The event was also a means of calling attention to hunger as a pressing social concern. This focus on food became an important inspiration for Corita’s art; her prints from this period consistently reference iconic food brands such as Wonder Bread, Del Monte’s, Sunkist, and General Mills as well as the major supermarket chains, Safeway and the Market Basket. Indeed, it was the Market Basket, which opened a branch across the street from the College in 1964, that provided much of the visual inspiration for the Mary’s Day event and Corita’s serigraphs. -Erin Maynes, Hoehn Curatorial Fellow for Prints, 2014-17

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