Two dark eyes, thick black eyebrows and rarely a smile. It is the face of Mexican Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), who often portrayed herself and with whom she has become a feminist icon in recent decades. Frida Kahlo was way ahead of her time. She refused to shave her body hair, she had several relationships, including with women. In the exhibition Viva la Frida! in the Drents museum, in addition to her paintings, photographs of her and her family, pieces of clothing and other personal belongings can be seen.
Many of Kahlo’s paintings are about pain: the physical pain she suffered from a bus accident and the many surgeries she had to undergo, and the mental pain after a miscarriage and her husband Diego Rivera (another artist) who made it with her sister. In the painting Henry Ford Hospital (1932) Kahlo depicts herself on a bed, lying in blood after her miscarriage. Thin red threads connect her to various objects, as well as to the fetus she just lost. The bed stands in a vast landscape. In the background is the Henry Ford Factory, where Diego Rivera made murals on commission. Despite the violent event depicted, there is a calmness about the painting. Only the necessary is brightly painted. For example, there is little emotion visible on Kahlo’s face. Only one big, indispensable tear tumbles out of the corner of her eye. Kahlo’s colorful work attracts and repels at the same time.
Kahlo herself is often the subject of her paintings, but the work is full of religious symbolism. Into the work My nurse and I we see a baby with the grown-up face of Kahlo, drinking from the breast. The painting is reminiscent of Christian depictions of Mary with Jesus at the breast. The nurse in My nurse and I wears an Aztec death mask, making it seem a long way from Kahlo. At the same time, Kahlo refers to the distant relationship with her own mother.
Also read: Women to never forget
Focus on Kahlo’s life
The exhibition in the Drents Museum emphasizes the biographical side, for example in the colorful portrait photos that photographer Nicolas Muray made of Kahlo. She is wearing traditional Tehuana dresses in the photos. There are also some dresses. There are also many black and white photos taken of her by Kahlo’s father, a professional photographer. The walls in the exhibition are mostly painted blue and refer to Casa del Azul, the blue house where Kahlo lived in Mexico.
Between the works, to the point of excess, several texts are devoted to Kahlo’s environment. You can read about her family and about her friendships. In Viva la Frida! So not only is the focus on the work she made during her lifetime, but the life Kahlo led is considered just as important, even showing you her medicine bottles in a display case, which were found in her home after her death.
The focus on Kahlo’s life is confirmed in a separate room, where a film screen is cut into several pieces. Colored animations dance on it to brighten up the whole. In eight minutes you flash hysterically through her life.
Also read: How could Frida Kahlo so honestly portray such great grief?
The fact that Kahlo’s work is closely linked to her personal life story is clear. However, you may wonder whether the idolatry of Frida Kahlo as a person, which seems to be in Viva la Frida! does not overshadow her actual work.
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