Their unique story
of love and art has been celebrated in movies and books, but there is always
more to discover about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
 |
Frida types a letter dictated by Diego
protesting the destruction of his fresco
at Rockefeller Center. May 1933, New York.
Anonymous. Newspaper image.
|
The two icons
of Mexican art are the subject of at least three exhibitions currently taking
place in Paris, France, ranging from a huge show of their paintings side by
side at the Musée de l’Orangerie to an exposition of period photographs at the
Mexican Cultural Institute.
Titled
“Complicities”, the photography exhibition in particular will be an eye-opener
for those already familiar with Rivera’s larger-than-life murals and Kahlo’s
vivid and disturbing portraits. It puts
the artists in their social and historical context, framing them against the
background of the Mexican Revolution and the politics of their time.
“The
exhibition is a road show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has put together
and it has been shown in other countries, but this is the first time in France," said Sara Valdés, the
minister-counselor for cultural affairs at the Mexican Embassy in France and
director of the Cultural Institute.
“We have produced
this particular show with fresh printings of original photographs because we
thought it was very useful to show it during the Diego and Frida art exhibition
as it gives the historical perspective to their art in the first half of twentieth-century
Mexico,” she told Tasshon.
The
remarkable black-and-white photographs, drawn from Mexico’s archives, show the
famous couple working together, demonstrating together, and meeting with the leading
cultural and political figures of the era.
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| Frida in the garden by Leo Matiz (1917-1998) Xochimilco, Mexico circa 1941 © Foundation Leo Matiz |
The
exhibition begins with images from the revolution and takes viewers through
“the life and the role of this couple, whose work has its background in the
Mexican Revolution”, said Valdés.
“Not only
were they lovers, militants and painters, but they also symbolized an entire
generation of change in modern Mexico,” she added.
Some of the
most moving photos in the exhibition show the artists’ final moments. There is
Kahlo staring solemnly at the camera in her last public appearance, 11 days
before her death in 1954, and a terminally ill Rivera painting in his studio in
1955.
A separate
section of the exhibition, billed as a show in its own right, is devoted to the
work of the accomplished Colombian-born photographer Leo Matiz, who took personal
and “up-close” photographs of the artists on a variety of occasions. These
clear, beautifully shot pictures reveal a different side of Kahlo, portraying
her in relaxed, feminine poses, or enjoying herself in the company of friends. One photo, on a kind of surreal level, actually
looks like a publicity image for the popular film that actress Salma Hayek made
about Kahlo’s life.
Matiz’s work
is the “jewel in the crown” according to Valdés, and viewers to the exhibition
will likely remember these evocative photographs for a long time, especially
that of the artists as a young couple – smiling, joyful and seeming to look
into the future. - L. McKenzie
("Complicities: Frida and Diego" runs from 16 Oct. to 20 Dec. 2013)
("Complicities: Frida and Diego" runs from 16 Oct. to 20 Dec. 2013)
