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Mexican fever to hit London with rare Frida Kahlo exhibition
Thu Jun 9, 1:22 PM ET
LONDON (AFP) - A rare retrospective of the striking, at times brutal, works of Frida Kahlo opens Thursday in the Tate Modern, riding on a new wave of fame for the Mexican artist triggered by a Hollywood film of her life.
"A lot of people know her life, but very few know her works. Her work has been underexposed," said curator Emma Dexter of the first European exhibition on such a scale of Kahlo's artistry, and the first solo exhibition for Kahlo in Britain.
The widely-anticipated exhibition is expected to draw large crowds thanks in part to the success of the 2002 film "Frida" in which Kahlo (1907-1954) was played by Mexican actress Salma Hayek.
Kahlo, who contracted polio at the age of six leaving her with one leg shorter than the other, began to paint when she was confined to bed after a horrific bus accident at the age of 18.
The crash smashed her spine in three places, badly damaged her pelvis and fractured her legs. It was to scar her physically and mentally, and she was to battle against her injuries for the rest of life.
But it provided material which she drew on for her paintings, which over time also became an outlet for her anger not just at her own physical limitations but also at the injustices she saw around her.
"She has a contemporary and universal resonance," said another curator Tanya Barson.
"Her work is still relevant to these days, especially to women, because of its feminist stance, her allusions to domestic violence, politics."
While still young, Kahlo met and married Diego Rivera, a Marxist and mural painter, who was 20 years older than her and the most famous Mexican artist of his time.
Her parents strongly disapproved of their marriage in 1929, dubbing it a "union between an elephant and a dove."
While Rivera gained increasing fame, Kahlo stayed in the shadows often painting self-portraits in which she portrayed herself with her trademark dark eyebrows, meeting in the middle, and a shadow of a moustache.
Many of the portraits are erotic and lush with Mexican references. Rivera is also in the centre of many of her works, despite his many infidelities including with her sister.
They divorced in 1939, after Kahlo also had a shortlived affair with Leon Trotsky who briefly sought refuge in her family home during his ill-fated exile in Mexico.
After her divorce, she poured her pain out onto the canvas with her works becoming at times almost surrealist. They were to remarry a year later, as Kahlo's health began failing due to lingering damage caused by the accident. She was to die several years later.
Out of the 150 paintings attributed to Kahlo, the Tate Modern has assembled some 87 works including 62 oil paintings.
The exhibition is also accompanied by documentaries and films which were made about the actress as well as works of Mexican cinema.
It shows the contribution made by Kahlo to Mexico's cultural rebirth and the country's search for its roots after the 1910-1920 revolution, while other paintings are openly critical of the United States.
Greatly impressed by Aztec art, there are also paintings of Kahlo in folk costume, as well as imagery from the Catholic church which exercised a strong influence on her.
"Frida Kahlo" runs until October 9 at the Tate Modern. Entrance GBP10, free for under 12s, open Sunday to Thursday, 10.00-18.00, Friday and Saturday, 10.00-22.00. Telephone, + 44 20 7887 8008, website http://www.tate.org.uk/.
posted by dianebiggs @
6/12/2005 07:37:00 PM
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