Frida in New York, portrayed by Nickolas Muray in 1946.
New York pays tribute to Frida Kahlo in the largest exhibition organized for the artist in the last 10 years. 'Frida Kahlo. Appearances are deceiving', in the brooklyn museum until May 12, collects numerous paintings, photographs, personal belongings and objects of great value recovered from the Blue house , property of the artist and her husband Diego Rivera.
The objective of the exhibition is based on the pencil drawing of 'Looks are deceiving' that Frida made on herself, in it you can see the artist naked under her dresses and all the accessories that she used to wear.
What did she want to convey? The polio she suffered in her childhood and the big bus accident in Mexico City that left her bedridden and infertile left evident traces on her body.
During her life she underwent more than 30 operations , that is why Frida developed her own aesthetic, cheerful and fun with which to camouflage all those "imperfections of her body" of hers. So below the tehuana dresses , her flower crowns and her heels were found with scars and a limp... that no one ever discovered.
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in 1933.
The exhibition sheds light on the most personal facet of the artist with 11 paintings including his self-portraits. Jewelry, cosmetics, orthopedics and even their corsets , and some of the photographs from the famous Jacques and Natasha Gelman collection.
In addition, the exhibition has Kahlo's childhood photographs taken by her father , the photographer Guillermo Kahlo; in addition to other photographers such as Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Gisèle Freund, Nickolas Muray and Edward Weston.
Also Mexican ceramics and the sculptures of dogs of colima that Frida liked so much. And as, their Tehuana dresses , a vindication of her Mexican culture and of Oaxaca.
Frida's Tehuana dresses.
FRIDA AND NEW YORK
"We are absolutely thrilled to feature an iconic and world-renowned artist in one of the largest exhibitions ever held in her honor in New York. This exhibit comes at an important time, when building **cultural bridges between the United States and Mexico** is critical." said Anne Pasternak, director of the Brooklyn Museum.
Frida's relationship with New York It begins in 1931 when she accompanies Diego Rivera to the city so that he can paint a mural in Rockefeller Center (in 1934 he was fired for including the image of the communist Lenin). This fact highlighted even more the political nature of the artist who she always showed her sympathy for communism ; in fact, the couple lent their house to the leader of communism for a time.
An oil self-portrait from 1941. It belongs to the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Fundación Vergel.
In 1938, the surrealist poet Andre Breton organized an exhibition with paintings by the artist in the influential Julien Levy gallery . This exhibition launched Kahlo's career internationally.
Also key was the iconic color portrait taken by the photographer Nicholas Muray on top of Greenwich Village (which appears as the main photo in this article).