By Although the day in celebration of Mexican heritage and pride has passsed, it is not too late to recognize the life of a revolutionary artist.
The exhibit Frida Kahlo, Her Photos, will be on display at Long Beach’s Museum of Latin American Art through June 8.
A collection of photographs that the surrealist Mexican painter treasured, including photos taken by her family and friends, along with photos her loved ones took of her will be on display. None of her painted pictures are featured at the exhibit.
The exhibit also includes a timeline of Kahlo’s life, from her birth in 1907 to the moment she died in 1954, and everything in between. The timeline also includes the date of the trolley accident that hospitalized her, and the progress of her relationship with renowned painter Diego Rivera, whom she married on two separate occasions after divorce. Other relationships are also outlined, affairs included.
Kahlo endured a great deal of suffering in her life, which is depicted in the photographs.
One section in particular, titled “The Broken Body,” displays photographs of Frida in the hospital following the trolley accident in 1925. Her life was full of hospital stays, painful surgeries, and prescription medication as she battled polio and the aftermath of the accident.
Though she was in the hospital, the photographs in one section highlight different parts of her body in a sensual way, her hair down and unreserved. Nickolas Muray, a lover from one of her extramarital affairs, was the primary photographer featured in this section of the collection.
Still, she powered through her struggle by painting, something that brought her great joy.
“I am not sick; I am broken,” Kahlo had said in her autobiography. “But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.”
Throughout her life, Kahlo’s philandering husband Rivera slept around, even with her own sister, Cristina. Despite that, he was still the greatest love of her life.
“Perhaps you are waiting to hear my laments about how much one suffers living with a man like Diego,” she said. “But I do not believe that the banks of a river suffer by letting it run.”
“Amores,” another section of the exhibit, depicted the strong love Kahlo had for her husband, as well as other individuals that meant a great deal to her. These included friends, affairs, and other important players in Kahlo’s personal and sexual life.
Cal State Long Beach student Maria De La Torre, a junior English literature major, said she felt the exhibit was moving.
“I adore Frida Kahlo,” De La Torre said. “It is so interesting to see all these photographs in order to get a better feel for what her life was like.”
Darrell Carvalho, a junior geography major, said he thought that the exhibit depicted Kahlo’s life well.
“I think that [the exhibit] gave a very good look into Kahlo’s daily struggles, as opposed to lionizing her and focusing on her as an artistic figure,” Carvalho said. “It gives a more three-dimensional depiction of her as a human being.”
For more information about the exhibit, visit molaa.org.
