Frida Kahlo - Oltre il Mito
When walking around Milan one will without doubt walk past a billboard for Frida Kahlo’s latest exhibition at MUDEC and decide to see it. That is what happened to me: I saw the advertising and went right there after class. Kahlo’s exhibition was inaugurated on February 1st and will last until June 3rd.
Fifteen years have passed since Italy has seen a retrospective of this size organized for arguably one of the most important female artists in history. Making this a rare opportunity for museum goers to bask in the grandeur of Frida’s work. MUDEC, or “Museo delle Culture”, has the extraordinary privilege in bringing together the two major collections of Frida Kahlo’s work: Mexico City’s Dolores Olmedo Museum, and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Which, in combination with fantastic location of MUDEC, makes this event a must-see for 2018.
However, knowing where people stand on Frida Kahlo can often be confusing. One might be interested in the exhibition after having seen the 2002 movie “Frida” starring Salma Hayek. Her self-portraits and her folkloristic looks being so iconic in our culture make it difficult to determine whether her viewers love her, hate her, or simply attend her exhibition with a sense of devoir to cultural fulfillment.
I must admit that the exhibition exceeded all my expectations. Being familiar with her work but not knowing much about Frida Kahlo herself prior to attending this show, I found the introductory room particularly useful in order to appreciate some basic facts of her life. Information which remained important throughout my visit, as it became clearer the extent to which Frida inspires herself from her own experiences. The exhibit evolved in an interesting way; organized around the main themes which categorize her art rather than an all too familiar chronological order. The curator, Diego Sileo, decided to divide her works into four main thematic areas: woman, earth, politics and death. A decision which arose from several studies undertaken in Mexico, allowing the curator to further appreciate her suffering, her identity struggles, and her strong link with Mexico and its traditions. These criteria permit for a deeper analysis of her works and allowing for an even better understanding. It consequently allows viewers to grasp the essence behind her art.
Moreover, there are not only paintings. Photographs, letters with lipstick kisses, newspapers, poems, grant us access to a certain level of intimacy with Frida, making it possible to truly understand her not only as an artist but also and perhaps more importantly as a woman who suffered, and lived a full, yet short, life. The various audiovisual additions to Kahlo’s works provide an interesting interpretation of her art and her life. Nonetheless, the visitor is not guided to reach any particular conclusion; through these artifacts, we naturally fulfill an authentic connection with the artist, leaving us profoundly touched by the depictions left on the canvas.
Despite not being featured as an individual theme for the exhibit, MUDEC nonetheless provides a detailed insight into her passionate yet tormented relationship with her lover Diego Rivera. Towards the end of the tour we are presented a video of them, demonstrating her deep affection no matter the suffering she was bearing because of him. The video was edited with a song of Italian author Brunori Sas, called “Diego e Io” (Diego and I). I personally felt how unbalanced their relationship was, and how her passion and love gave her the necessary endurance to carry on their relationship to the very end.
Finally, I feel it’s important to discuss the perfectly fitting title to the exhibition. “Oltre il mito” signals the fact that Kahlo was not only her fame, her paintings and all the related pop culture. I previously mentioned the movie starring Salma Hayek, but one might remember Kahlo as secondary character in Disney’s latest movie “Coco”, or as a perfect and artsy Carnival costume. This is the myth: however, MUDEC’s exhibition allows viewers to go beyond this glaze, transporting us into the very core of Frida Kahlo opus, body, and soul.
SOME PRACTICAL TIPS (especially for people who don’t know MUDEC)
If you want to see it after class get Tram #9 until Porta Genova, and then it’s just a 10-minute walk
It will take approximately 2 and a half hours to see it and especially enjoy it
Even if you’re not a fan of reading descriptions and facts, do it because it will make the whole experience more interesting