The blown-up image of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera that welcomes visitors at the new exhibit of the Atlanta’s High Museum of Art is a true representation of the life of the two Mexican painters: disproportionate yet captivating. In this image, Rivera looks straight forward, almost tenderly to the viewer, while Kahlo stares obliquely, as if absent from the scene, immersed in her thoughts.
The tumultuous relationship between the two artists has been capturing the public’s imagination for a long time, and there is little doubt that the exhibit that opened last month at the High Museum of Art, “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting”, will draw a large public.
Of the 120 total pieces of art showcased, photographs take the back seat. They are displayed in the last gallery, as a way to give a glimpse of their life together. Sadly, the High did not have access to the large collection of photographs that had resurfaced in 2007, after remaining unseen for more than half a century. Mexican photographer and curator Pablo Ortiz Monasterio culled them for the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City, and later, some of them traveled to Arlington, Virginia for a solo U.S. exhibition in March of 2012.
The photographs on view at the High are borrowed from various American collections, according to the museum’s photography curator, Brett Abbott. The decision to present them to conclude the exhibit is a reminder of the fact that Frida Kahlo is rarely associated with photography, even though she had a strong interest in the medium.
Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, a German immigrant, made a living as a photographer, which he himself learned from his father. He taught his daughter photography and she worked as an assistant in his studio, helping to color his black-and-white photographs by hand. Later in her life, Kahlo used photographs for painting. Photographers were part of her closest friends, including Edward Weston, Lola Alvarez Bravo, and Martin Munkacsi, whose intimate photographs are represented at the High. But maybe the most mesmerizing portraits of Frida are the colored ones captured by Hungarian photographer and Frida’s lover for many years, Nickolas Muray. Those alone are worth the trip to the exhibit.
Virginie Drujon-Kippelen
Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting
From February 14th to May 12th, 2013
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
USA
+1 404-733-4444
Tues, Wed: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Thurs: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Fri, Sat: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sun: 12 Noon-5 p.m.
