"Las Dos Fridas" by Frida Kahlo
At that first exposure, and the ones that followed over the years, as I tried to absorb as much of Frida Kahlo as I could in my remaining Mexico City days, I became an addict for the work and imagery of this Champagne Communist Mexican virago. I recall sitting down in the room where the “Two Fridas” was hung, and copying the painting through a pencil sketch done on gift wrapping vellum paper from an earlier touristy purchase of a huge, saucepan-sized solid silver belt buckle and brown cowboy etched leather belt that I wore for years and that thankfully has now been lost.
Kahlo left me gasping for knowledge about her and her work. Her imagery was like nothing I had seen before, even in my childhood's New York atmosphere that often included daylong trips to the Brooklyn Museum, the Met, MOMA, and many other New York museums. The more of her work I discovered, the more I became obsessed with learning about her. In 1975, and the first few years that followed, this wasn't exactly an easy task. In those years, at least in Mexico, Kahlo was still just Diego Rivera's wife - a wife who also happened to paint. Thus was my burning interest in visiting the massive Frida Kahlo exhibition that opened last month at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA).
PMA is the only East Coast venue for this major exhibition, the first in nearly 15 years to be devoted to Kahlo's work. It includes more than 40 of Kahlo's paintings, including many that have never been exhibited before, and others that have never been seen in the United States. The following video provides a walkthrough of the Kahlo exhibition:
The exhibition was organized by the Walker Art Center, working with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and curated by Kahlo biographer, Hayden Herrera, whose brilliant biography of Kahlo is a must-read for Kahlophiles worldwide, and by the Walker's associate curator Elizabeth Carpenter.
In addition to the Kahlo works, the curators have included over 100 photographs from Kahlo's personal collection, some of which have been annotated and drawn on by Kahlo. Among them are images by Tina Modotti, Nickolas Murray, Gisele Freund, and many others. They truly help to create a sense of place and time and aura around some of the most iconic imagery from 20th century art.
The PMA show also adds some additional materials from the museum's own collection. These works, mostly ex-votos works, really add a brilliant insight into Kahlo's influences. The PMA additions were curated by the PMA's Michael Taylor and Emily Hage (more on that later).
Article comments
1 - Jim Whalen
lennie---what month in '75 did you hitch a ride on SARA ?? What division ?? jim
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2 - Juliann Mitchell
Mr. Campello, a wonderful,informative, well- written piece on Kahlo. Sharing your own personal experiences made for a great read. I planned to see the exhibit next month but after reading your article I will be going this weekend. I recently purchased her diary and have found it fascinating, especially her artwork. Thank you.
3 - Terence Clarke
Hello Lennie:
Thank you for your piece on Frida Kahlo. I too am a Frida and Diego fan, and I especially appreciate your mention of Hayden Herrera's biography of Frida. I've seldom read a serious biography that was so much of a page-turner. Excellent research, fine writing and a real look into the soul of a very fine artist.
I too am a BC writer, by the way, and I hope you'll look at some of my pieces on the graphic arts.
Warm regards,
Terence Clarke
4 - Richard Marcus
Mr Campello
Thank you for the tour through the Frida exhibt in Philly - it looks stunning. I'm amazed at the number of paintings that I was completly unfamiliar with; the still life's and the minatures look like they are worth poring over for ages.
Do you happen to know if the gallery has produced a catalogue of the show that and if it's for sale? For those of us unable to see the show - and I doubt if it will be coming to Canada at any time in the near future - it would be a valuable addition to a collection.
My wife and I recently purchased a new edition of her journals that has just been published, and I was struck again by the emotional honesty of her work. She's able to comment on her personal pain without appearing self-indulgent. Making it a universal statement on what's it's like to suffer so that others can identify, and feel like somebody understands what they are going through.
I speak from personal experience as I too suffer from acute chronic pain - I know in attempting to write about it, how thin the line between self-pity and explanation is, and I've always looked to Frida's work for guidance.
Thank you again for this piece - it's the next best thing to being there.
cheers
Richard Marcus