Mexican artist and icon Frida Kahlo is one of Red Dot Diva's favourite women personalities. The vibrancy and surrealism in her artwork, as well as resilience in the face of adversity, never ceases to amaze and captivate Diva's imagination.
Back in 2018, Red Dot Diva was thrilled to be able to catch the Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up exhibit at London's V&A Museum. No photos were allowed at the exhibit but it did not matter. On display, were her personal belongings like her clothing, makeup items, her intricately painted plaster corsets, even her prosthetic leg. It was a very intimate insight to the artist's psyche, and her story continues to inspire people even in this day and age. So, when Red Dot Diva heard that Artscience Museum would be presenting FRIDA FOREVER - a line up of exhibits and events commemorating 70 years of the artists' passing in 1954 - Diva had to find out what the local event would be like.
FRIDA FOREVER consists of two connecting exhibits in Level B2 of the building, as well as a VR offering on the 4th floor. Here are Red Dot Diva's thoughts from her sneak peek of the exhibits.
FRIDA KAHLO: THE LIFE OF AN ICON
In this immersive exhibit Frida Kahlo comes to life with colourful interactive installations, digital technologies, and 360-degree projections. As you wander from one zone to another, you will learn about the fateful accident that changed her life trajectory and how that affected her decisions for the rest of her artistic journey and choices. Check out some of the highlights:
At an altar that is inspired by the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), you will have the chance to contemplate and remember about Frida's eventful life.
A digital representation of the impact of her traumatic accident when she was 18 years old, is a powerful reminder of the suffering Frida Kahlo has endured for most of her life. The incident changed her feelings and thoughts about art, and it was the beginning of the outlet she needed to express how she viewed herself, her body, her beliefs and her struggles.
At the La Rosita tavern, Frida secured a space where her students were able to start painting murals. In this segment, you can sit down to colour your own Kahlo-inspired artpiece. Consider that a mission for Red Dot Diva! You can then scan your finished artwork and it will appear as a light projection on the wall.
Tada! How do you like Diva's work of art? :D
A crazily psychedelic light projection room depicts the various symbols and motifs that Frida Kahlo often use in her paintings. These include pineapples, monkeys, calaveras (Mexican skulls), and marigolds.
It is also a great photo spot for the 'Gram.
Frida Kahlo's look is instantly recognisable and her icon style has fueled inspiration for various fashion houses like Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino. In this segment, a few Mexican-style clothing, including the huipils featuring traditional embroidery that Frida loves to wear, are on display for us to admire. The artist favoured long skirts to conceal her shortened right leg due to childhood polio, and later her amputation.
The piece de resistance of this exhibition is the 360-immersive biography of Frida Kahlo's, chronicling her life in 45 minutes. With a fantastic soundtrack that also feature readings of poems in Spanish, weaved in the moving visuals of key moments in Frida like her childhood, her time spent in San Francisco, her place of convalescence, her love for animals and plants and more.
After the getting to know Frida's story, it is time to delve a little deeper by heading into the next exhibit entitled...
LAID BARE: FRIDA'S INNER WORLD
This is a smaller and more intimate look into Frida's that consists of 40 photographs, diary pages, medical records, and exclusive interviews with Cristina Kahlo Alcalá — the great niece of Frida Kahlo. In the recorded interview, Cristina Kahlo Alcalá shared how she managed to obtain medical records from the American British Cowdry Hospital in Mexico, where Frida spent most of her time in treatment for her medical troubles.
It is amazing to see the rebellious and defiant look in her eyes in one of the main photos, against the pictures of her prosthetic legs, mangled spine and medical records. And from living with chronic pain throughout most of her life, she usurps the narrative to make it her own by displaying her pain and mental resilience in eye-catching and moving artwork like Tree Of Hope, Remain Strong (1946). The artwork depicts the duality of the universe - light vs dark, as well as her life - the one on the left, broken and marred by surgical scars, and on the right, the sad yet confident Frida dressed in vibrant red and holding the flag with lyrics from a song "Cielito Lindo", which means "Tree of Hope, Remain Strong."
Laid Bare: Frida’s Inner World is curated and produced by ArtScience Museum with the support of Cristina Kahlo Alcalá and Circe Henestrosa.
As you leave this exhibit, do not forget to admire the beautiful floral arch installation by Singapore-based Mexican artist and curator, Lidia Riveros.
EXQUISITE CORPSE: VR EXPERIENCE
To add on to the knowledge you have now acquired about Frida Kahlo, there is a VR experience entitled Exquisite Corpse developed by Layers of Reality and Blit Studios.
The digital journey begins when Frida was confined to the hospital bed while recovering from her health issues. This was the pivotal point where she decided to express herself through art. As you follow her journey, you will get to immerse yourself in a 360 view of her world, surrounded by her iconic colours and symbols.
Artscience Museum's FRIDA FOREVER tribute is a great introduction for those who are not familiar with the Mexican artist's life. Even for those who already know of Frida's extraordinary story, the displays provided more intimate details about her medical conditions, and enhances your appreciation of her outlook on life and death even more. When delving into Frida Kahlo's time on this earth, Red Dot Diva's tends to wonder if exquisite art is always spawned from immense suffering. What do you think?
FRIDA FOREVER runs from 4 May to 1 September 2024. Tickets can be purchased via Fever, at this link: https://feverup.com/m/165967
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