by Josée Thissen-Rojer

Until October 3^rd, 2021, the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen will host a special exhibition entitled ‘Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera: A Love Revolution’.

The pieces on display are from the Gelman Collection, and as the title indicates, the focus is on the relationship between Kahlo and Rivera, but it also paints a picture of the time in which they lived, their personalities, and their fame.

Guest curator Stefan van Raay describes Frida and Diego as one of the most famous artist couples in history: “Rivera was a giant among artists who expressed the socialist ideals of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) in large murals in public spaces. Kahlo made works on canvas, mostly colorful self-portraits, full of symbolism and magical realistic elements. Over the past four decades, she has become the most famous female artist ever.”

This exhibition offers more than paintings by the couple. In addition to works of art by Kahlo and Rivera, the exhibit also includes life-size prints of Rivera’s murals, works by their contemporaries, and a fairly extensive selection of photos of the couple. Also of note is that the museum is adding to the exhibition by providing a selection of traditional Mexican vintage dresses to showcase the types of dresses and accessories that Kahlo wore. There’s also a space for contemporary artists who use Kahlo as a source of inspiration.

The oeuvre created by Frida Kahlo (Mexico 1907-1954) isn’t that large, but it’s mainly the 80 self-portraits that would play an important role in art history. She portrays her own appearance and personality with merciless honesty, and she doesn’t allow herself to be tied down by prevailing ideals of beauty. She emphatically shows that she has facial hair by adding extra thickness to her mustache and unibrow in her self-portraits. In fact, almost everything in her life is reflected in her paintings: her ethnicity, her relationship with Diego Rivera, her emotions, her physical disabilities as a result of a childhood illness and a serious traffic accident, and the many operations that she has to undergo as a result.

The self-portrait from 1943, ‘Diego in my thoughts (self-portrait as Tehuana)’, was used as part of the poster to announce the exhibition. She shows her closeness to Diego by painting his portrait above her unibrow and depicting herself wearing the typical bridal gown worn by women from Tehuantepec, her native region. From the flower arrangement on her head, fine leaf veins run like roots all over the painting. These are an example of the dark symbolism that characterizes her work. Although her work has a surrealistic feel, Kahlo flatly refused to be labeled as a surrealist, because she didn’t paint dream images, only her reality.

Kahlo’s work is not only authentic in style and theme but also taboo-breaking. As guest curator Van Raay points out, her work has become increasingly popular, especially since the 80s, due to the self-conscious manner in which she portrays herself. The film ‘Frida’ from 2002, with Selma Hayek in the lead role, strongly contributes to this popularization, according to Van Raay. It’s therefore not surprising that in this exhibition, the Cobra Museum also focuses on contemporary artists who are inspired by her.

One of these artists is the Uruguay-born photographer Diana Blok (1952). Two of her photos hang inside the museum, inspired by Frida Kahlo’s work. These are photos from a project from 1997 in Amsterdam called ‘Adventures in Cross-Casting’. She approached people from the world of theater, asking them which famous personality they would most like to play. They would then be portrayed in that role by Diana Blok. The condition was that it had to be a person of the opposite sex. The question was not only posed to actors, but also to people who work behind the scenes. In the world of theater, role reversal and cross-dressing are very common and can be traced back to ancient Greece. But Diana Blok wanted to penetrate deeper into the psyche because she didn’t ask people to play a theater role, but to portray a person of their choice, or their fantasy, in a way in which they themselves remained recognizable. Invitees who accepted the challenge were assisted in the studio with make-up, clothing, and props.

Two of the individuals who accepted this invitation chose to be photographed as Frida Kahlo. These two portraits are also present at the exhibition and one of the people portrayed is Felix de Rooy from Curaçao, a well-known artist, theater maker, cinematographer, and exhibition creator. The second portrait is of the Brazilian actor Álamo Facó. The photos dating from 1997 and 2014 are clearly inspired by Frida Kahlo, but also still contain an unmistakable personal contribution from the sitter.

In both portraits, the unibrow, the light mustache above the red painted lips, and the hairstyle are a direct reference to the Mexican Kahlo. De Rooy has a bare torso and wears a blue flared skirt. He holds a horned animal skull in his hands. White bleached deer antlers sit on both shoulders, which stick up like wings. The exposed body, skull and antlers are attributes that are typical of De Rooy. He looks straight into the camera from the side, with the same stare in his eyes as can be seen in Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits. Diana Blok has captured two strong personalities in one photo and made them into a harmonious portrait.

Frida Kahlo is in the spotlight this year. In addition to the exhibition in the Cobra Museum, the Drents Museum will present the exhibition Viva la Frida!. The opening will be performed by Queen Máxima. To top it all off, a painting by Kahlo will be up for auction this year. It’s a self-portrait from 1949, ‘Diego y yo’, that will be auctioned in November at Sotheby’s in New York. The auction house expects the painting to well surpass the highest amount ever paid for a painting by Kahlo, which was $8 million in 2016. Sotheby’s forecasts $30 million in revenue for the work on social media. Expectations are high and time will tell.

Postscript: Sotheby’s announced on January 1, 2022, via social media that “Diego y yo” raised $34.9 million

This post was made possible by the financial support of Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Caribisch Gebied.
Previously published in Amigoe, on October 2, 2021.

Photographs by Diana Blok were made available from the photographer’s digital archive.
Both images of Frida Kahlo’s work were made available by The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of the 20th Century Mexican Art and Vergel Foundation/INBAL-Secretaria de Cultura. © 2021 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico DF c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2021, through the Cobra Museum.

This text, in whole or part, may only be reproduced with reference to the source: Curaçao Art®️, www.curacao-art.com, and the author. Copyright of the artworks remains the property of the artist.