My surprise, glimpse of Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up
I wandered into the V & A museum recently and was aiming to visit the Fashioned by Nature exhibition. I had a little time to spare, afterwards, so I thought, as a member, I’d make full use of the privilege and go and visit another exhibition.
The Frida Kahlo exhibition caught my eye, not because I had any inkling who she was, but because of the intriguing title. “Making Her Self Up.” In my straight forward thinking mind, I understood that to mean, how she developed herself during her life. That is what intrigued me. I know what it is to “make oneself up.” And I was curious about how another person, female, had done it.
As I queued to enter the exhibition, I heard one lady excitedly say to another “Did you know this is the first time that this collection had never left Mexico, and that it was only fifty years after her death, were they allowed to do so.”
So I looked up Frida Kahlo, in an effort to understand who Frida Kahlo was, and why the ladies were so excited about the exhibition.
Discovering “Frida Kahlo de Rivera”, born in 1907, was a Mexican artist who painted portraits inspired by the nature and artefacts of Mexico. Her paintings had mixed realism with fantasy.” The mixture of realism with fantasy piqued my curiosity, I was wanted to know more, as I eagerly waited for my turn to enter.
As you enter, there is a strangely lit corridor, with a couple of very striking pictures of her. They are quite different from portraits, that I had seen before.
To be honest, I am not able to remember many of the details, in terms of the items in the exhibition. I was more interested in the story of her life.
Firstly, she was born to a German father, and a mestiza mother (so Wikipedia says) She had Polio as a child, yet showed incredible promise and was headed for medical college.
Then at eighteen, she was involved in an accident that caused her lifelong pain, and further medical problems. Whilst in recovery, she returned to her former hobby, painting with an aim to become an artist.
After some time, joining the Mexican Communist Party, she met her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. She travelled with him in Mexico and United States, and she started developing her own style as an artist, with Mexican folk culture as inspiration. At this point, her work, mainly consisted of self-portraits mixed with some parts of mythology. She then divorced her husband.
Andre Breton, arranged for Kahlo to exhibit at the Julian Levy Gallery. After this, one of her pictures, “The Frame” was purchased by the Louvre, and she was the first Mexican artist to be featured in the collection.
In the 1940s, her health started to decline, and she taught became a founding member of the Seminaria de Cultura Mexicana. She died in 1954.
Until the 1970s she was known as Rivera’s wife. However, by the early 1990s, she was recognised as an icon of the Feminism movement and LGBTQ movement.
The Tate Modern: “One of the most significant artists of the twentieth century.”
There is a fascination with her life story, painful and tragic and yet she has become an icon, representing a “victim, crippled and abused” and as a “survivor who fights back”.
On inspection of the objects in the exhibition, including some self-portraits, clothing, personal belongings, her pain is tangibly visible from the leg splints, for instance, and yet the extent of her achievement really comes to the fore.
Her leg splints, from her early years are a reminder of the pain, that she endured, yet the colourful clothes she wore and her bold, colourfulness of appearance, suggest a vivacity and enthusiasm for life.
There are objects that indicate her activism, and her more political life, as well as some beautiful artefacts of hers, that again showed how much she enjoyed life.
It is a moving exhibition, and depicts the story of her life, in a way that is tragic, yet tangible and thoughtful.
Generally, I like gently wandering in on surprises, and bumping into new discoveries as part of life but this “accidental” surprise was truly eye-opening, inspiring as well as evocative.
It is a great story of an extraordinary woman, a fighter, in every sense of the word, and also had the fragility and sensitivity to create unique art that conveyed not only herself to the world, but also of her country’s folklore, and culture that may never have been seen by many.
I do urge you to go and visit exhibition, and some may say, there are lots of stories of great women who have survived many hardships.
Yes, there are.
I personally, feel that very few heroines, in the art world, and there are even fewer, recognised for it, so this was a wonderful surprise.
As to the “Making her Self up” title, it can be interpreted in two ways, the collection of objects, showing how she cared “made-up” in terms of her appearance. There is also the interpretation of how she made up her own life, refusing to follow convention.
I am not an art lover or very cultured, as can be surmised by my “accidentally” stumbling in to this exhibition. I have given little justice to her story, yet I can recognise an inspiring story, when I see one.
So go, and do see it for yourself. I was not there for more than thirty-five minutes, yet it opened my eyes. You will not be disappointed.