Andrea Büttner

Andrea Büttner’s interdisciplinary practice combines in-depth research with an exploration of the tensions between aesthetics and ethics, situating her subjects within this ambivalent context.

Working across printmaking, painting, video, and installation, she intertwines historical art movements, religious traditions, and contemporary social issues. Frequently engaging with themes rooted in religious communities and ethics, she highlights overlooked details of everyday life. Central to her practice is an exploration of the relationship between art, labor, and humility—investigating how artistic expression navigates ideas of shame, poverty, and marginality.

Installed in the intimate side-chapel (weekkapel) of the St Willibrordus Church of Kasterlee, Corita Reading is a 42-minute sound piece in which Andrea Büttner reads aloud texts that the late American artist and former nun Corita Kent (1918–1986) featured in her screen prints from 1964 to 1969.

Known for her bold graphic works quoting thinkers and writers such as Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein, Rainer Maria Rilke and Martin Luther King Jr as well as lyrics from The Beatles and Jefferson Airplane, Corita Kent devoted her life and work to social justice. By vocalizing the printed texts, Büttner immerses the audience in Kent’s spiritual and artistic expression, highlighting how Kent’s blend of pop culture, activism and faith challenged conventional boundaries.

Büttner’s own practice has long drawn inspiration from religious communities and figures, exploring themes of vulnerability, dignity, shame and the role of art in expressing faith and social justice. Her engagement with Kent’s work reflects a shared interest in the intersection of religious life and contemporary art. By examining the parallels between religious communities and the art world, Büttner’s work offers a unique lens through which to understand contemporary society.

Corita Reading is both an homage to Kent’s legacy and a poignant meeting point for two artists whose work transcends traditional boundaries between the sacred and the secular.

Corita Reading (2006)
Sound piece
42’ (loop)